Coronavirus Patient Dies At Prince Of Wales Hospital

An elderly man believed to have contracted Covid-19 at a Sha Tin public housing estate died on Tuesday, becoming Hong Kong’s sixth coronavirus fatality.

The death of the 72-year-old Lek Yuen Estate resident is also the second associated with a cluster of cases there that broke out in late May.

He was one of nine residents confirmed to have been infected. A 68-year-old woman who lived at the same block passed away on Saturday.

The Prince of Wales Hospital said the 72-year-old had no symptoms when he was first admitted on June 4, but his condition quickly deteriorated, and he was transferred to the intensive care unit six days later.

His condition continued to worsen despite undergoing a number of different treatments, and died early on Tuesday morning.

Around 100 residents were evacuated from specific apartments in a block at the estate earlier this month after the cluster of infections continued to spread.

However, experts are still unsure how the virus got passed on, despite looking into various potential routes of transmission such as the pipes.

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP), meanwhile, confirmed 16 more imported cases of Covid-19, bringing the total tally to 1,177.

All of the new cases had returned to Hong Kong from Pakistan on Sunday.

Authorities had confirmed 30 imported cases on Monday – in the highest single-day tally for over two months.

The CHP also said it is investigating an overseas case involving a 39-year-old who returned from India via Malaysia on Sunday on Cathay Dragon flight KA734.

It says the patient declared that she had tested positive for coronavirus while in India, and was taken straight from the airport to United Christian Hospital.

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