New Covid Cases Drop To Single-digits

For the first time in more than a month and a half, the number of new Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong has returned to single-digits.

Still, health authorities warned the city is not completely out of the woods because they were unable to pinpoint how some patients caught the virus.

The number of new coronavirus cases dropped to just nine on Monday – the lowest since the beginning of July. Hong Kong has not seen a single-digit tally since July 3.

Seven of the latest patients contracted the virus locally, of which four have no known sources. The two imported cases are a student returning to Hong Kong from Switzerland and a Filipino domestic helper.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said although the overall trend is on the decline, there is still 'silent transmission' within the community and the number of cases fluctuates on a daily basis.

"We have a single-digit number today, but we have more than 10 preliminary positive cases," Chuang said. "I think from a public health point-of-view, any relaxation of social-distancing measures may result in an increase in the number of cases, but the actual measures may take into consideration from public-health measures as well as well as from other considerations."

She said the launch of a universal Covid-19 testing scheme could help identify asymptomatic carriers of the virus, and could help stop the silent transmission of the virus within the community.

A chief manager for the Hospital Authority, Dr Sara Ho, confirmed that among the preliminary positive cases is an 85-year-old female patient who was sent to Tin Shui Wai Hospital on Sunday.

Ho said the elderly woman suffered from shortness of breath and was in a critical condition when she arrived at the hospital, and she was intubated in a room without negative-pressure facilities before testing positive for the virus.

The authority is checking if medical staff wore protective gear when treating the woman.

The number of Covid-19 cases recorded in Hong Kong now stands at 4,691. So far, 77 fatalities have been recorded.