While the cluster is smaller than previous flareups such as one linked to dance halls in November, it has engulfed a tightly-knit world of mostly Western expatriates who work for global financial institutions and whose children attend international schools with annual fees of US$32,000 or more.
Some banks and other companies advised staff to not come into offices.
HSBC Holdings Plc vacated one floor of its main building for deep cleaning after an employee tested preliminary positive, according to a memo to staff. The bank said only critical employees should work from the office until further notice.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc is reverting to a policy of 50% of staff working from home, a Hong Kong-based spokesman said.
“The latest gym outbreak has brought the pandemic closer to home for many in the industry,” said Ray Wepener, a former structured credit trader at Haitong International Securities Group Ltd.
“Many of my in person meetings have been cancelled or rescheduled, and I continue to get constant updates on which trading floors have been cleared.”
This outbreak is connected to a 27-year-old trainer at Ursus Fitness in Sai Ying Pun, a neighbourhood on Hong Kong Island that is popular with expatriates.
At least 17 confirmed cases have followed among staff and customers of the gym. More than 240 people visited the venue between March 1 and 9 and they now have to go into government quarantine centres.
The Centre for Health Protection has warned that the number of patients linked to the gym cluster may exceed 50 and that many of those involved didn’t wear masks during training sessions.
“It is inevitable that if any of them is infected, transmission will occur, especially during exercise,” Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the centre’s Communicable Disease Branch, said at a briefing Thursday.
Conditions at some quarantine facilities are spartan, with basic meals delivered through slots in doors of cramped rooms that aren’t equipped with WiFi.
Some people have taken to expatriate forums on Facebook to express concern that certain dietary requirements may not be catered to at the centres.
The outbreak is a setback for Hong Kong just as it was emerging from a winter wave of infections that prompted the government to restrict business operating hours and limit public gatherings.
Officials said rules would be tightened again as necessary, denting hopes for a return to normal life and the opening of travel lanes with places such as mainland China and Singapore.
Several international schools were closed for cleaning after positive Covid cases among staff were linked to the outbreak at Ursus gym, while others have suspended face-to-face classes, which only resumed last month for the first time since November, even though they haven’t had any confirmed cases.
Other fitness centres were closed due to cases linked to Ursus.
H-Kore said it was closing both of its studios until March 21 after one of its trainers attended a class at Ursus on March 5, while another’s husband — who works at Ursus — tested positive and was taken to the hospital for treatment.
The outbreak also hit the wider sports community. Hong Kong Rugby Union confirmed that some players at both senior and junior level have been infected and that all club activities would be suspended through the weekend. Some Hong Kong Cricket Club activities were also suspended.
Covid vaccination rates in Hong Kong have slowed amid concern over side effects from Sinovac Biotech Ltd’s shot, with reports of at least four deaths among the more than 140,000 people inoculated.
None of the deaths have been linked to the Chinese company’s vaccine, but they’ve added to hesitancy about getting inoculated.
The no-show rate for people who made appointments to get Sinovac immunisations rose to 30% Thursday from less than 10% last week.