Hong Kong on alert over two cases of new COVID-19 variant

Two cases of the B.1.1.529 coronavirus variant have been reported in Hong Kong, with the new strain spreading from a traveler from South Africa who was undergoing quarantine to a person occupying the room across from him in a hotel where they were both in isolation.

Hong Kong’s Department of Health said genome sequencing revealed that the first patient had come from South Africa while another hotel guest, from Canada, had tested positive for the B.1.1.529 strain five days later. Both travellers were fully vaccinated and undergoing quarantine, which is required for all international arrivals into Hong Kong which is still following a “zero COVID” strategy and has not seen any local outbreaks for many months.