Experts To Check Kwong Wah Hospital Over Virus Cases

Health authorities on Tuesday revealed that they have asked experts to visit Kwong Wah Hospital over fears of environmental contamination after a suspected coronavirus case with links to a ward there emerged.

This comes after a patient who was in a surveillance ward with intestinal problems tested preliminary positive for the virus.

Another patient at the same ward was confirmed to be carrying Covid. The pair were in close proximity for a day, before the person who tested preliminary positive moved to a general ward.

The Centre for Health Protection said that nurses at the surveillance ward had told them that the confirmed patient had often taken off his mask.

Authorities now fear there is a chance that he could have contaminated the environment, leading to the latest preliminary positive case. They said health workers in the ward had worn protective gear and were not at risk.

They have now classified seven people as close contacts to the new preliminary case. Five are still in the hospital, one has been discharged and one has died due to other issues.

The CHP said they are sending experts there to study whether infections could have happened at the ward.

Health officials said they have noticed some patients tended to take off their masks citing breathing difficulty while they are in hospital.

They appealed to all patients to keep their masks on, warning failure to do so runs the risk of environmental contamination in the area.