Cured Diamond Princess patient tests positive again

Cured Diamond Princess patient tests positive again

Health authorities on Saturday said a former Hong Kong passenger of the Diamond Princess cruise ship who came down with Covid-19 but cleared after receiving treatments in Japan, had tested positive for the virus in the SAR.



The 85-year-old man, who has a heart disease, was discharged from a hospital in Japan after treatment and testing negative twice for the virus earlier this month. He flew back to Hong Kong on March 10.



But he had chest pain the next day and visited the Tuen Mun Hospital. Officials said he didn’t have a fever or any respiratory symptom at the time.



According to the Hospital Authority, on March 12, the patient was admitted to the hospital for heart problems. He stayed at an ordinary ward with two other patients.



On March 13, the patient was transferred to an isolation ward after he complained of a cough. He subsequently tested positive for the new coronavirus.



A Chief Manager with the authority, Dr Lau Ka-hin, said two patients who shared the same ward with the elderly man had been transferred to isolation wards for monitoring. Twenty-six medical workers have been put under medical surveillance for 28 days.



The Diamond Princess was at the centre of a major Covid-19 outbreak after it docked in Yokohama with over 3,000 people on board. Nearly 700 of them got infected with the coronavirus.