Insurance worker gets virus, ten colleagues confined

The latest victim kept going to his office in Yau Ma Tei despite developing some symptoms. Photo: RTHK

Ten employees of an insurance firm have been put in quarantine after one of their colleagues tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the 51st case in Hong Kong.



Health officials said the 43-year-old man, who lives in Tuen Mun, is related to a local 66-year-old man who was diagnosed with the illness on Tuesday.



The authorities said the latest man diagnosed went to work despite feeling ill and that is why his colleagues and his wife have been moved into quarantine.



Officials were also trying to trace three of his clients.



The man developed coughing on January 29 and had nausea two days later. He consulted different doctors three times.



He was admitted to Tuen Mun Hospital on Tuesday and was diagnosed on Wednesday.



Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Communicable Disease Branch at the Centre for Health Protection, said the man worked at the Nathan Commercial Building in Yau Ma Tei.



He mostly stayed inside the office while working. His colleagues who did not share the same room as him were to undergo medical monitoring.



The latest victim had dinner with a 66-year-old relative – who later became the 47th victim – and 11 other family members on January 30.



Efforts were being made to trace these relatives, but it was doubtful whether they would need to go into quarantine due to the time that has passed since the dinner.