100th coronavirus case confirmed in Hong Kong

A resident of an elderly care home is also being tested to see if he is indeed infected with Covid-19. Photo: RTHK

The number of coronavirus cases identified in Hong Kong rose to 100 on Monday, with health authorities confirming a new case and upgrading another previously classified as ‘probable.’



The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said a 63 year old man tested positive for Covid-19 despite not having any symptoms.



He had already been in quarantine as a close contact of a previously-confirmed case and will now be transferred to hospital for observation.



Authorities say he was at his daughter’s wedding banquet on February 22, which his infected sister also attended.



Meanwhile, a 68 year-old former passenger of the coronavirus-stricken Princess Diamond Cruise ship in Japan who was earlier classified as a ‘probable’ case, was confirmed to be infected.



She had returned to the territory on a government-chartered flight after spending two weeks in quarantine onboard the ship, and had also been in quarantine here when she tested positive for the presence of Covid-19 antibodies.



Authorities are conducting further tests on a man who lives in a care home for the elderly in Shau Kei Wan, after an initial test came back as a “weak positive.”



The home has put up a sign saying no visitors are allowed, and the CHP’s Chuang Shuk-kwan had acknowledged that if the confirmatory test comes back positive, “we will be very worried".



Experts have long warned that care homes could be susceptible to the new coronavirus, which has a significantly higher mortality rate among the elderly and those with existing health conditions.