Concern About Covid-19 Patient Flying Back To HK

Hong Kong health authorities have urged people confirmed with the coronavirus outside of the city not to return to the SAR until they recover there.

They were commenting on Sunday on the case of a 29-year-old Hong Kong man who tested positive in the United Kingdom, but flew back after insisting he was recovering.

The centre said the man had sore throat early this month, and British health officials had told him to stay home after confirming his infection on Thursday.

But the man took flight CX252 and arrived in the SAR on Sunday. He was sent to Prince of Wales Hospital.

Dr. Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection says people who tested positive for Covid-19 could pose a threat to themselves and others on board a flight.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong reported three more imported cases of the Covid-19 virus on Sunday – all of them returnees from Pakistan.

The Centre for Health Protection said the three latest patients involve a 79-year-old man, a 39-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter. They returned to the SAR on board flight QR818 from Doha on Saturday.

While the trio have all tested positive, only the woman had shown slight symptoms such as coughing earlier this week.

Health officials say the three patients had stayed in Pakistan for months – with the elderly man having departed Hong Kong half a year ago to visit his family. And the patients say they didn't recall having getting in touch with confirmed coronavirus patients in Pakistan.

The latest imported cases bring the total number of Covid-19 infections in Hong Kong to 1,055.

As to the source of the latest local cases in a family cluster in Tsuen Wan, Dr Chuang said they still have no clue where the patients get the virus from.

She added that officials have given out around 3,000 bottles for deep saliva testing to the people who might have come into contact with the cluster's patients. Results of around 1,000 of them have returned negative for the Covid-19 virus.

Separately, the Hospital Authority has revealed that a system that keeps isolation wards under negative pressure at Tuen Mun Hospital stopped running for about an hour on Sunday morning.

A chief manager of the authority, Dr Sara Ho, said the incident was triggered by a false fire alarm, disrupting the ventilation system.

She said patients staying in that ward are not Covid-19 patients, and they considered the risk of transmission to be slim.

The authority has asked the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department to look into the matter and issue a report.