Covid Outbreak Has Reached Its Peak, Says Expert

A government adviser said on Tuesday that he believes the current Covid-19 outbreak in Hong Kong has reached its peak, but it'll take some time for the latest social distancing measures to bring down infections.

On an RTHK programme, Chinese University respiratory medicine professor David Hui said he has seen fewer people out on the streets in the past few days, and believes the SAR may see a decline in cases around Christmas.

He again appealed to the public not to delay seeking medical attention when they develop coronavirus symptoms, such as fever or a cough.

Hui said he noticed that some patients suffered from shortness of breath when admitted to hospital, meaning they were already in the early stages of pneumonia as the virus had reached the lower respiratory tract.

"The problem is wearing a face mask already makes it easier to cause a shortness of breath, so people may have got used to it and so it may not be easy to notice the feeling of shortness of breath," he explained.

Meanwhile, a surveyor said on the same radio programme that people should keep their kitchen or toilet windows shut before turning on the exhaust fan, to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Vincent Ho, chairman of the Institute of Surveyors' building policy panel, also said people should keep their kitchen and toilet doors, as well as lounge room windows open, to boost ventilation.

His advice comes after some units at a public housing estate in Wong Tai Sin had to be evacuated on Monday due to suspicion that the virus had spread upwards from a bathroom of an infected flat to two other units.