K11 Musea mall forces exit of virus-hit restaurant after bad ventilation blamed for outbreak

A shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui announced Tuesday that it will end its tenancy agreement with a Chinese restaurant that has emerged as the center of a new COVID-19 cluster.

The eviction of Mr. Ming’s Chinese Dining from K11 Musea came after Yuen Kwok-yung, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong who is advising the government on its virus response, said during a restaurant inspection Monday that the amount of fresh air supply inside the eatery is only a third of the license requirement.

“This is extremely unideal,” Yuen said, adding that the reduced airflow creates a higher risk of airborne transmission. 

According to a K11 Musea spokesperson, the Chiuchow restaurant had a separate ventilation system that was not connected to other shops and restaurants in the mall. 

The spokesperson said the shopping center uses a network similar to what is installed in hospitals, whereby fresh air is disinfected with UV light before release, and that the central network is “not affected by any separate ventilation systems operated by individual tenants.” 

Jonathan Bui, a spokesperson for Mr. Ming’s, told HK01 that the restaurant was not aware of the fresh air supply problem until Monday’s inspection. He called K11 Musea’s decision “one-sided” and said the mall did not communicate with them before the public announcement. 

“We only learned of the contract’s unilateral termination through media reports,” said Bui. 

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The first cases linked to the restaurant outbreak were reported on Feb. 24. Since then, the cluster has ballooned to 49, including close contacts of those who had been at the eatery.

A restaurant cleaner who started coughing on Feb.18 is believed to be a “super-spreader” who may have passed the virus to coworkers and customers.

According to K11 Musea’s website, the mall will be closed until Friday for deep cleaning and staff testing. Around 1,500 staff and tenants will undergo compulsory testing on Wednesday for the second time, HK01 reported.