Mong Kok Fortress salesman among latest with Covid

A 32-year-old salesman, who works in a Mong Kok branch of the electronics shop Fortress, has come down with Covid-19, the only local coronavirus case reported on Monday. It is not known how he contracted the disease.

There were 15 other cases, all imported: six from the Philippines, five from India and four from Pakistan. Health officials said there were also three preliminary cases.

The Centre for Health Protection’s Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan said the man sells smartphones and beauty appliances on the ground floor of the Fortress shop at Wai Fung Plaza.

His last working day was March 22, and he has since been caring his wife who gave birth at United Christian Hospital two days later. In the past week, he has been to the wet market at Lei Yue Muen Plaza every day.

Anyone who has been to the wet market, or to the shop on Nathan Road, in the past fortnight for more than two hours is now subject to mandatory Covid testing.

Chuang said there was a minimal chance that the man had infected customers, as he had worn a mask during his shifts. She also said the source of infection could have been a customer or a colleague.

She said the wet market needed to be deep-cleaned as it was the third confirmed case linked to it in the past fortnight. But she said those infected couldn’t remember which stalls they had been to, or whether they had come into contact with each other.

Chuang said there was no need to test patients at the hospital.

“[The man] just waited outside in the corridor, with a mask, waiting for his wife’s delivery. For the other days, he just came to pick up his wife,” she told a press conference.

“So he didn’t actually go into the wards with patients or have any contact with them.”

Chuang added that his wife, and the newborn baby, were now in quarantine, as were several other family members and dozens of his colleagues.