Nursing Instructor May Have Infected Five Patients

A government adviser on the pandemic said on Thursday that a nursing instructor may have spread Covid-19 to five elderly patients at the Caritas Medical Centre.

Yuen Kwok-yung said the teacher talked a lot while in an internal ward on Monday and could have emitted particles carrying the virus – causing short-range airborne transmission.

“[The teacher] stayed for five hours in two cubicles in the ward and kept instructing newcomers,” Yuen told reporters after inspecting the 12A medicine and geriatrics ward.

The University of Hong Kong professor said the five patients who have tested preliminary positive for Covid are all over 70 and unvaccinated.

Yuen said staff who came into contact with the instructor should get tested before working in the coming week, but they don’t need to be quarantined.

“They wore what they should have worn: masks… and especially when hospitals are so busy now, it’s impossible to quarantine these nurses who have come into contact with [infected people], because that way very soon our hospitals won’t be able to operate.”

He said nurses in the ward have been doing a good job with infection control measures, adding that the area is also well-ventilated.