Omicron Variant Spreads in Hong Kong Quarantine Hotel by Vaccinated Guests Who Had No Contact

• Two fully vaccinated occupants in a quarantine hotel in Hong Kong both got the Omicron variant of Covid
• The guests had had no interaction with one another and remained in their separate rooms throughout their quarantine period
• This case has made health officials wary of the nature of the Omicron variant as it is a highly transmissible strain

HONG KONG - In a quarantine hotel in Hong Kong two fully vaccinated guests contracted the Omicron variant as it spread across the corridor.

The hotel has closed-circuit cameras and the footage proves that both guests remained in their separate rooms throughout their quarantine period.

Therefore it is believed that the variant must have spread between them when their doors were opened to collect food deliveries or when health officials came to their rooms to conduct Covid-19 tests, Mail Online reports.

Read also

Covid 19 cases soar to nearly 20k new infections, figures now are higher than the first peak

Health officials fear the nature of the Omicron variant

This case has caused health officials to raise their concerns and fears about the new Omicron variant, particularly its highly transmissible nature.

According to TimesLIVE, the variant has a previously unrecorded level of mutations, which causes the fear that it could bypass the protection that the Covid-19 vaccine offers and thereby increase the infection rate.

A team of 450 medical researchers have undertaken a project to ascertain how effective how the mutations in Omicron's spike protein affects the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Reactions to the hotel quarantine Omicron spread

@neo_mda believes:

"The funny thing about these variants is that they’re known way in advance. I think these scientists must just publish COVID19 calendar of events."

Read also

Mediclinic says 25% of Covid 19 patients are vaccinated, very few need to be admitted to hospital

@JohnZwane18 asked:

"What I would like to know is what happens to the older variants, the likes of Delta ,Alpha since there is a new boss in town? Do they simply vanish or do they co-exist with the new brother? Really, what really happens to them?"

@CyndiL44 said:

"It would be nice to know if they ever became symptomatic or not, and if so, were their symptoms mild."

@NoJab4MeThanks shared:

"Exactly the reason why vaccinated people need to be quarantined and kept away from the rest of society. They are spreading Covid!"

@s_kelly__ suggested:

"If they are in a quarantine hotel maybe they both got it while travelling, and just happened to be neighbors? I mean, there's so many possibilities. Maybe hotel staff infected them?"

PPE worth R2.7m donated by ActionSA as Omicron cases sweep South Africa

Briefly News reported yesterday that in a response to the surging number of Covid-19 cases reported during the fourth wave so far, ActionSA has donated R2.7 million worth of PPE to Lifeline and iThemba, who are both based in Gauteng.

Read also

3 million active Covid 19 cases as the virus sweeps across South Africa

ActionSA believes that this donation is much needed at the present time as the Omicron variant drives South Africa's infection rate up. The items donated by the party include hand sanitiser, face masks and face shields.

The party's leader, Herman Mashaba, criticised the ANC for not providing enough PPE as he feels that it is their mandate as the ruling party during a pandemic.

Source: Briefly News