10 ground crews of Hong Kong airport diagnosed

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

News (1)

Two ground crew diagnosed on 7 and 8 October 2020

At 6 pm on 8 October 2020, the Hong Kong Airport Authority notified that a ground crew member at the Hong Kong International Airport was diagnosed with covid. Till now 10 ground crews of Hong Kong International Airport have been diagnosed positive with the disease.

The latest case, an employee of the airport voluntarily participated in the SARS-CoV-2 test provided by the Department of Health for airport employees and received a negative result on 2 October. The employee’s most recent work date is 4 October. On that day, the employee had a meal with a friend after work, and the friend was later diagnosed with covid. The employees concerned were tested again and the diagnosis of both ground crew was confirmed on 7 October.

The Hong Kong Airport Authority stated that the relevant work area has been cleaned and disinfected. The outsourcer’s workstation has been temporarily moved to another location. All employees working there will be arranged to undergo virus testing.

News (2)

The other covid cases of Hong Kong airport

According to information released by the Hong Kong Airport Authority, the other known cases of covid from the airport are as follows:-

On 18 July 2020, a toilet cleaner at Hong Kong Airport was diagnosed with covid.

On 25 July 2020, an employee of a service provider who contracted the automatic arrival baggage delivery system project in Hong Kong airport restricted areas was initially diagnosed with covid. On 28 July, the Hong Kong Airport Authority received a notice from the luggage storage and delivery service contractor SF Express (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. that an employee of the company working at the airport luggage storage and delivery service counter was diagnosed with the disease.

On 1 August, another SF employee working at the Hong Kong airport was diagnosed, but the employee last worked at the airport on 25 July and has resigned. 

On 5 August, a female security guard at Hong Kong Airport was diagnosed with covid.

On 17 August, the Hong Kong Airport Authority announced that a security guard from a security outsourcer of the Hong Kong Airport Three Runway System Project was diagnosed with covid. Some family members of employees were also infected.

According to the aviation industry, a few other related staff working at Hong Kong Airport have also been diagnosed with covid.

According to the official website of Hong Kong Airport Ground Service Co., Ltd., two employees of the company were diagnosed with covid on 14 and 25 August respectively.

The Hong Kong Airport Authority has always provided strict guidelines to airport service providers and outsourcing companies to ensure the public health safety of airport employees and passengers. The Hong Kong Airport Authority has also reminded the airport industry to take appropriate precautions to reduce the risk of infection and spread of covid.

According to the latest data released by the Hong Kong Center for Health Protection (CHP), as of 8 October, the number of confirmed cases of covid in Hong Kong has reached 5,161, second only to Hubei Province in China.

Sources : Ming Pao / South China Morning Post / Aviation Circle