Doctors Urged To Test More As 12 Covid Cases Added

The Centre for Health Protection said on Thursday that 12 more Covid cases have been detected in the city as the government again urged private doctors to help in detecting new infections by giving coronavirus tests to those with mild symptoms.

Four of the new cases are local infections and officials are unable to trace the source in two of them. Experts have been warning that a rise in cases with no known source will trigger another wave of Covid cases in the city.

Under secretary for health, Chui Tak-yi, again urged private doctors to prevent this and asked them to run coronavirus tests as a part of their regular checks even if the patients are showing only mild symptoms of the disease.

An elderly man was found to be Covid positive earlier this week only after a visit to a public hospital, although he had visited a private clinic twice last week.

Chui said the "index of suspicion" for Covid-19 should be increased.

"When they present similar symptoms that share with many other common diseases, the clinicians could also consider Covid-19 as one of the differential diagnoses and order the relevant investigation, that is the Covid-19 tests," he said.

"That is one thing that clinicians can help to increase the chance of [finding] the confirmed cases," he said.

Meanwhile health officials said 200 sample collection bottles have been distributed at Kowloon Cricket Club after a frequent visitor there tested positive for the disease.

The 73-year-old businessman didn't show any symptoms, but was found to have the virus after he was admitted to Union Hospital in Tai Wai for surgery on Monday. His viral load is said to be low.

He had a meal at a Japanese restaurant, Zuma, at the Landmark shopping mall in Central and had visited the Kowloon Cricket Club during his incubation period.

The second case with no known source is the 35-year-old clarinetist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, who has been now confirmed as Covid positive.

More than 90 close contacts have been put under quarantine after his preliminary test results came back positive. None of the contacts has tested positive for the virus yet.

Two close contacts of previous infections, a three-year-old girl and a 66-year-old woman, have also been confirmed with the disease.

Eight imported cases involve people who flew in from France, the Philippines, Nepal and Indonesia.

Hong Kong has so far reported 5,213 coronavirus cases, with 105 deaths.