Hong Kong finds suspected local Omicron case in airport cleaner

Hong Kong has detected a suspected omicron case in an airport cleaner, marking the first time the more infectious variant has jumped through the city’s fortress-like border controls and infected a person living in the community who hasn’t recently traveled. The 64-year-old man who cleaned toilets designated for use by new arrivals thought to be infected with Covid-19 has himself tested preliminarily positive, according to the government statement. Initial tests suggest he is carrying the omicron variant, though whole genome sequencing is needed to confirm the findings. He appears to be the first person in Hong Kong who hasn’t recently traveled and yet contracted the highly infectious omicron variant. While the Asian financial hub has confirmed 34 omicron cases to date, all were in people with prior travel history and most were detected upon arrival or in quarantine. The news comes as lab studies emerge showing that even a booster shot of Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s vaccine, used by a third of vaccinated people in the city, isn’t sufficient to protect against the spread of omicron. The patient last went to work on Dec. 22, the day he developed symptoms. He has no recent travel history and mainly worked in the bathroom used by people with imported cases while they waited to be transferred to the hospital. A preliminary investigation showed he likely acquired the infection at work. The news underscores the risk of omicron to Hong Kong, where only 4.3% of the population has received a booster shot as they’re currently only available to high-risk groups. Lab studies from researchers in the city found two vaccine doses from Germany’s BioNTech SE or China’s Sinovac aren’t sufficient to protect against omicron, which may spread up to 70 times faster than previous strains of coronavirus. <br/>