The 342-room Fortuna casino-hotel in Zape was locked down yesterday morning after the health authorities confirmed that one of its staff, a non-resident worker (NRW), belongs to one of the two clusters detected in the current COVID-19 outbreak, Leong Iek Hou, who heads the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Division of the Health Bureau (SSM), said at a regular press conference yesterday evening.
Leong said that three colleagues of the non-resident worker at the hotel later also tested positive for COVID-19, while the fifth case is a staff member of the hotel who tested positive for the disease in Zhuhai.
Therefore, Leong said, five COVID-19 cases are related to the hotel.
Around 300 guests and 80 staff were at the hotel when it was locked down, SSM Director Alvis Lo Iek Long said at the press conference, adding that a number of casino employees were also at the hotel when it was sealed off by the authorities.
The exact number of people in the hotel would be announced later, Lo said.
Meanwhile, Lo said his bureau would arrange for the workers and guests to stay at the hotel, adding that some of them would be taken to quarantine hotels if there are not enough guestrooms for all the guests and staff members.
The hotel was locked down yesterday morning for seven days, as it was classified as one of the city’s 12 “Red Code” Zones as five of its staff tested positive for COVID-19.
People who are locked down in a “Red Code” Zone will have to undergo a nucleic acid test (NAT) on the first, third and seventh days, while rapid antigen tests will have to be done on the second, fourth, fifth and sixth days.
Fortuna is the first casino-hotel to be locked down in the current COVID-19 outbreak.
Due to the five COVID-19 confirmed cases found at the hotel, the Pak Tou car park near the hotel was sealed off at 10:40 a.m. yesterday so that people and cars in the underground car park were unable to get in or out, the Transport Bureau (DSAT) said in a statement yesterday. However, the car park reopened at 3:22 p.m., a follow-up statement by the bureau noted.
A man is handing daily necessities including food and a suitcase to an official yesterday afternoon at the driveway of Hotel Fortuna in Zape, to be passed on to someone in the locked-down casino-hotel. Photo: Yuki Lei
