New Covid Cases Drop To Lowest In A Month

Health authorities said they are “cautiously optimistic” that Hong Kong is beginning to see a drop in Covid-19 infections, as the city reported 63 new cases on Tuesday – the lowest in a month.

The Centre for Health Protection said 53 were locally-acquired, with the source of infection unknown for 13 of them.

Of the 40 cases linked to previous infections included the dance cluster as well as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge cluster.

Dr Wu Xiaochun, a private doctor who runs a clinic in Tin Shui Wai, also came down with the virus, after he treated two patients on December 15 and 18 who subsequently tested positive for the disease.

The CHP’s Chuang Shuk-kwan said staff working at Wu’s clinic will be quarantined, and patients who’ve seen him between December 19 and 20 have been asked to get tested.

“We are still counting the number of patients he had seen... we will remind them to get tested. He had seen two patients during the incubation period and the time of his onset is quite compatible... we assume that it is more likely than not that he got the virus from the two patients,” she said.

Chuang added that she hopes the drop in the overall number of infections will continue, saying people need to remain extra vigilant.

“I hope this trend will continue, but I am still not sure yet,” she said.

There are also about 30 preliminary positive cases.

The Hospital Authority, meanwhile, admitted that there was a glitch in the SMS notification system regarding the case of deceased pro-Beijing activist Leticia Lee and her husband.

The authority’s chief manager, Lau Ka-hin, said while Lee and her husband had tested negative earlier this month, they never received an SMS notification.

“Their results were negative and the outsourced laboratory had tried to send the SMS to them but failed. They are still investigating why there was a failure in their system and they will follow it up,” Lau said.

Lee passed away after fainting at home last week, and she tested positive for Covid-19 following her death. Her husband was also confirmed to have been infected days later.

Meanwhile, the Covid outbreak here has claimed another life. An 86-year-old male patient has died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.