London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 21, 2025

Hong Kong health officials on full alert as dance club Covid-19 cluster grows

Hong Kong health officials on full alert as dance club Covid-19 cluster grows

Of 21 new locally transmitted infections, origins of nine cannot be traced.

A surge of Covid-19 infections, with a growing cluster linked to a Wan Chai dance studio, has placed Hong Kong health authorities on full alert.

Twenty-six cases were confirmed in the city on Friday, including 21 locally transmitted infections. The origins of nine local cases could not be traced.

More than 40 initially positive infections, many untraceable, were also reported.

The cluster linked to Starlight Dance Club had nine more confirmed and seven preliminary positive cases. There are now 10 confirmed cases tied to the group.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch under the Centre for Health Protection, said among the nine new patients linked to Starlight, most had visited the premises on November 14 and some the previous day. One confirmed person had not been to Starlight but had business dealings with a club visitor who was infected, meaning secondary transmission may have occurred.

Among the seven initially positive cases was a club bartender, a family member of an infected person and some patrons who were at the premises on November 12.

“It shows there was some transmission in Starlight. We are now tracking people who visited there on November 13 and 14, and perhaps now we need to trace those who were there on November 12, too,” Chuang said, adding that dozens of people were in the club each day.

She said some of the club’s instructors also taught elsewhere, including at Dance Culture in Causeway Bay and Heavenly Dance in Sheung Wan.

Three other confirmed cases were linked to previous infections.

Most of the nine untraceable infections were preliminary positive cases from the day before, including a taxi driver, a construction worker, a man with special needs and a member of his family.

Three housewives were also among those cases, including one who had visited Palladium International Dance Club in Tsim Sha Tsui on November 16 for a birthday gathering of about 100 people at which ballroom dancing was available.

“It was not necessarily the reason for her infection, but it showed she had joined an activity with quite a lot of people,” Chuang said.


A cluster has been linked to Starlight Dance Club in Wan Chai.


She said many of Friday’s preliminary cases were identified through government community testing centres in Quarry Bay and Yau Ma Tei.

The city’s official tally stands at 5,517 confirmed cases, with 108 related deaths.

The other five confirmed cases were imported, including a pilot from Britain, and arrivals from Pakistan, Romania and India.

Experts had warned about the risk of Covid-19 transmission during dancing.

“Dancing partners are very close together and breathe heavily as this can be a form of exercise. This can generate lots of virus-laden aerosols that spread to many people in an indoor setting,” said Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, an infectious disease expert from the University of Hong Kong who advises the government on the pandemic.

Chuang said it remained unclear whether dance studios or clubs fell under a specific type of premises regulated under Covid-19 rules.

According to the Home Affairs Department, Starlight Dance Club, Heavenly Dance and Dance Culture are not licensed as amusement game centres, clubhouses, karaoke establishments or mahjong-tin kau premises, all of which fall under specific social-distancing regulations.

Palladium International Dance Club has a certificate of compliance for a clubhouse.

Meanwhile, three taxi drivers and a rehab bus driver who were confirmed by the Department of Health as having Covid-19 last Thursday turned out to be “false positive” cases, according to Chinese University’s Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, a respiratory medicine expert and another government adviser.

“After they were admitted to hospital, all their other test samples returned negative. Antibodies cannot be found in their blood tests,” he told a radio show on Friday.

Hui suspected their samples in the private laboratory might have been contaminated. As the health department used the same set of samples, they were therefore confirmed as “positive”.

Chuang said she would not comment on those cases, but added that not all infected patients would develop antibodies.

The Post has contacted KingMed Diagnostics, which was responsible for testing taxi drivers, for comment.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
×