Coronavirus Cases Drop To A Six-week Low

The number of new Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong continued to show a steady decline, with the city recording just 18 new infections on Thursday – a far cry from the last days of July when the numbers were in triple digits continuously.

Still, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) remained cautious about the lowest figure in more than six weeks.

She said the drop might be related to a typhoon that shut down most of the city on Wednesday morning, as fewer people might have returned their samples for Covid-19 tests.

Eight thousand sample collection bottles have been distributed at the Kwai Tsung container terminal after dozens of staff there tested positive for the coronavirus.

Chuang said officials had tested 3,700 samples obtained from there and around 1,000 samples bottles are waiting to be tested.

Three more cases have been identified at the port. They are staff of Wang Kee Port Operation Services who had shared a common room at the terminal.

Chuang said as the port was closed due to Wednesday's storm, there has been a delay in sending more sample bottles to the labs.

Staff and inmates of Castle Peak Bay immigration detention centre are also being screened after a newly admitted inmate was found to be carrying the virus. Police are helping the authorities to trace the activities of the new detainee before he was sent there.

The authorities also said checks are continuing on the person who is suspected of catching the coronavirus for a second time after being discharged from a hospital. A comprehensive analysis by experts is needed before any conclusion can be reached, they said.

The only imported case on Thursday is a woman who arrived in the city on an Air India flight on Friday. Chuang said she was linked to a family cluster and so far 14 passengers on that flight have come down with the infection.

She said there has been no decision on if a ban on Air India flying to the city has to be extended, adding she thinks the initial two-week-period was a "reasonable" length of time.

Late on Thursday, health officials reported the 74th death of a coronavirus patient in the SAR. A 72-year-old woman with an underlying health condition passed away at the Prince of Wales Hospital. She was first admitted on July 13.

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