Virus found on tap, book at North Point temple

Virus found on tap, book at North Point temple

Health officials said on Tuesday that they had found traces of the Covid-19 virus on a tap handle in a bathroom at a Buddhist temple in North Point, as well as on a prayer book there.



Seven people who had been to the Fook Wai Ching She Buddhist temple recently are now known to have caught the illness.



At a press conference, officials said they took 33 samples from inside and outside the temple, including from door handles, lift buttons, and light switches.



Two, from the tap handle and the book, came back positive.



Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, from the Centre for Health Protection, noted that disinfection work had already been carried out in the time between the first patient being diagnosed and the samples being taken.



But she said the positive test results were to be expected, and some areas might be difficult to clean.



Chuang said the authorities will return to the temple after a few days to see whether it is still contaminated.



The centre has so far received calls from 153 people who recently visited the temple, she said. Twenty-two of them have been asked to undergo quarantine.