Another six in HK hospitals over Wuhan virus fears

Two of the new patients are being treated in isolation at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. File photo: RTHK

Health officials say another six people have been placed in isolation in the SAR's hospitals over fears they have caught an unidentified viral pneumonia that has broken out in the mainland city of Wuhan.



The latest patients range in age from just two-years-old, to 65.



The three males and three females were all said to be in a stable condition in various public hospitals after being admitted with fever, respiratory infection or pneumonia symptoms.



"The Hospital Authority will keep monitoring the patients' conditions and provide appropriate treatment," said the Hospital Authority's Chief Infection Control Officer, Dr Raymond Lai.



A statement said all six patients had recently been in Wuhan, but none were believed to have visited a seafood market linked to the outbreak.



The new suspected cases bring the total number of people put into isolation in Hong Kong after falling sick following trips to Wuhan to 21 since New Year's Eve.



Of these, seven have already been discharged from hospital.



Officials have yet to say whether they believe any of the patients actually have the same strain of virus as the patients on the mainland.



The authorities in Wuhan said on Sunday that 59 people there had come down with the illness, with seven of them severely ill.