Concerns are growing about a Covid-19 outbreak in Jordan as a cluster of infections in an old tenement building there expands, while new cases are reported from another block 100 metres away.

Health officials said one more confirmed infection and a preliminary positive case have been reported from the block on 20-26 Reclamation Street as residents were evacuated.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said a total of 27 residents there have contracted the virus so far.

“We understand there’re some concerns among the local residents and councillors. And we notice that for the subdivided flats, the pipes may not be up to standard. So taking all the factors into consideration, we think that moving the residents to a hotel or a quarantine centre may be a safer and quicker way to stop the spread in those buildings,” she said.

Meanwhile, two new cases have been reported from a nearby tenement block, on Shanghai Street.

Residents there are required to undergo mandatory coronavirus testing.

Chuang noted more than 80 Covid cases have been reported in Yau Tsim Mong district in the past two weeks. The patients live on Jordan Road, Temple Street, Canton Road and Woosung Street.

She said some of them are Nepalese and work at construction sites hit by Covid outbreaks recently. They then spread the virus to their families and friends in the ethnic minority community.

She said authorities would step up anti-epidemic work and education in the area.

Authorities reported 29 new coronavirus cases on Thursday. Twenty-six of the infections are locally acquired, 13 via unknown sources.

More than 30 people have tested preliminary positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, officials are investigating a possible case of “vertical transmission” of the coronavirus at a public housing block in Kwai Chung.

Five confirmed infections and a preliminary positive case have been reported from three units at Yan Shek House in Shek Yam Estate.

The flats – 1409, 1609 and 2609 – are located on different floors but face the same direction.

University of Hong Kong microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung was part of a team inspecting the building on Thursday afternoon. The experts described the situation there as "unsatisfactory" with vent pipes altered in two of those units.

Residents of flats ending "09" will be quarantined, and the rest will be subject to mandatory testing.
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Last updated: 2021-01-14 HKT 18:06