Hong Kong reports three additional imported cases of novel coronavirus infection

By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews

The Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection (CHP) reports investigating three additional imported cases of novel coronavirus infection. This brings the total cases in Hong Kong to five.

Information on the cases are as follows:

The first case involved a 62-year-old female who lives in Wuhan, Hubei Province with good past health. According to the information she provided, she travelled from Wuhan to Shenzhenbei (G1013) and then from Shenzhenbei to Hong Kong (G6543) by High-Speed Rail on January 19. She developed fever and cough on January 20. She sought medical treatment at Tuen Mun Hospital’s Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department on January 23 and was admitted for isolation January 24. She is now in stable condition. Her respiratory samples were tested positive for novel coronavirus.

According to the patient, she had visited a wet market in Wuhan and a relative with cough in a hospital there during the incubation period, but had no exposure to wild animals. Preliminary investigations revealed that she came to Hong Kong together with her husband to visit their daughter and son-in-law and stayed at South Hillcrest in Tuen Mun. Her husband, daughter and son-in-law are asymptomatic and will be transferred to Lady MacLehose Holiday Village for quarantine.

The other two cases involve a couple from Wuhan, who are a 62-year-old woman and a 63-year-old man with good past health. According to the information they provided, they took High-Speed Rail from Wuhan at 2.20pm on January 22 and arrived at the Hong Kong West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link at around 8pm that evening. The woman developed fever on January 23 while her husband developed cough on the same day and then fever on January 24. The couple attended the Prince of Wales Hospital’s A&E Department on January 23 and were admitted for isolation. They are in stable condition. The respiratory samples of both patients were tested positive for novel coronavirus.

According to the patients, they neither visited any health care facilities, wet market or seafood market during the incubation period, nor had any exposure to wild animals or poultry or contact with patients with symptoms of pneumonia or upper respiratory tract infection. Preliminary investigations revealed that the couple stayed at Lake Silver in Ma On Shan with their daughter and a domestic helper. Their daughter developed fever since January 23 and will be transferred to Prince of Wales Hospital for isolation. The domestic helper is asymptomatic and will be transferred to Lady MacLehose Holiday Village for quarantine.