Coronavirus Cases Fall To Single-digits

Health officials reported that Hong Kong had nine new confirmed Covid-19 cases on Monday, the first time in one week that the number of cases fell to single-digits.

Of the new infections, seven were locally-acquired, of which just two had no known sources: a woman who is 39 weeks pregnant, and a 75-year-old man who works at a factory plant on Prince Edward Road West.

The Centre for Health Protection's Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan said the pregnant woman had stayed at home during the incubation period, and that there were no high-risk factors, while the elderly worker spent most of his time either at home, at work, or eating out.

The other five local cases were linked to previous infections, including another resident of the Hong Chi Lei Muk Shue Hostel for people with intellectual disabilities. That brings the total number of patients in that cluster to 18.

Chuang said: "We saw single-digit number of cases today, hopefully we can keep this trend to have as low a number of cases as possible. But with the coming of the universal testing, we expect there will be some cases to be detected through this programme, so maybe after the programme, hopefully we can see the trend coming down."

She reiterated that the number of cases fluctuates daily, and that there are still cases with unknown origins, therefore it was still too early to say the Covid-19 situation was under control.

Meanwhile, the Hospital Authority made it clear that it supported the government’s citywide coronavirus testing scheme which will start on Tuesday.

This comes after the pro-democracy Hospital Authority Employees Alliance on Sunday urged members of the public to boycott the programme, warning it could do more harm than good.

But a chief manager with the authority, Dr Linda Yu, said the free tests can help identify asymptomatic carriers of the virus.

"This programme aligns with our strategy of early testing, early isolation, and early treatment, so we would like to show our support to our community," Yu said.

Meanwhile, a radiographer and a patient assistant at Pok Oi Hospital were being put under quarantine as they did not wear proper protective gear when they came into contact with a 64-year-old Covid-19 patient on Sunday. The man suffered from a fever and shortness of breath and tested positive for the coronavirus later.

Fewer than 10 people tested positive for the virus in preliminary tests. The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases now stands at 4,810.