Covid-19 Cases Show Fall, But Officials Remain Wary

Hong Kong has reported a significant drop in the number of new Covid-19 infections, with just 33 new confirmed cases recorded on Tuesday compared with 69 on Monday.

The Centre for Health Protection said that of the 33 cases, only one was imported, 17 were linked to previous clusters or patients, and 15 have no known source of transmission.

Hong Kong had seen a sharp rise in daily new cases from early July, peaking at 149 about two weeks ago. Many successive days saw cases in triple digits as the total number of cases recorded in the city soared to 4,181 by Tuesday.

Despite the substantial drop in infections, the CHP's Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan said it was still too early to say that this was a downward trend as some 50 people have also tested preliminary positive.

"I hope the trend will continue with all the efforts from the community as well as from the government, but still there are lots of unknown cases in the community. I mean even today we have at least 15 unknown cases, so that signifies there is a lot of silent transmission in the community," she said.

Chuang said among the new patients, one is an Indonesian domestic helper who had lived in a boarding house in Cheung Hing Mansion in Mong Kok with at least 10 other domestic helpers before reporting to the new employer – two elderly people – at the Chung Yuen Building in Tai Kok Tsui.

Onset of symptoms began on August 3, and as a precaution her employers took her to get tested and she stayed at another flat to wait for her results.

Chuang also said that the woman helped a friend take care of an elderly woman who lives in Shau Kei Wan, before she went to stay at the boarding house.

Investigation and contact tracing is ongoing, and in the meantime the woman's current employers have been quarantined, and the Shau Kei Wan woman she cared for will be tested.

Meanwhile, University of Hong Kong microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung was at Kwong Wah Hospital on Tuesday to investigate a cluster of infections there.

Six patients in three different wards recently tested positive.

Yuen ruled out environmental contamination and said a patient who refused to wear a face mask at all times was the likely cause of the infections.

He said the 69-year-old patient had a tendency of taking off his mask and talking loudly. Yuen said he led to the infection of another patient, who then spread the virus to three others. One of the three then infected a sixth patient.

The expert did not rule out more patients getting infected.

A nurse at Kwong Wah Hospital has also tested preliminary positive, but Yuen did not believe it's linked to the cluster.

The building where the nurse lives has two confirmed cases.