Princess Margaret Hospital Suffers Covid Outbreak

Health authorities on Monday reported a Covid-19 outbreak at Princess Margaret Hospital, with dozens of patients and medical staff there being ordered into quarantine.

Preliminary investigations showed two patients and two medical workers had contracted the virus after a cancer patient who received treatment at a day ward there last Monday was confirmed to have the disease later.

The case prompted calls by a leading microbiologist, Yuen Kwok-yung from the University of Hong Kong, to extend Covid-19 testing to patients at day wards at public hospitals.

Yuen, who inspected Princess Margaret Hospital on Monday afternoon after the case came to light, told reporters that the most likely cause of infection there was the virus spread through the air when the 66-year-old patient with bone marrow cancer took off her face mask for a meal.

The expert said environmental samples taken from the ward didn't contain coronavirus.

Still, anyone who has visited the ward in the past week will be required to undergo a coronavirus test.

The Hospital Authority’s chief executive, Tony Ko, said some services at the hospital would be affected as investigations into the outbreak continue.

Yuen also suggested sending cancer and other patients to special wards for treatment to minimise the risk of infection in the event they are Covid carriers.

"Anyone who have fever, despite that they're on chemotherapy – which many of them would have fever – they need to be admitted to the isolation ward or the surveillance ward," he said.

He added that day wards should shorten their hours – operating only in the morning or afternoon – so patients can go home to eat.

Yuen said hospitals should also try to shorten meal times for these patients by offering light meals, but noted there's a need to maintain their blood sugar levels because they are relatively weak.

He believes this is a case of the virus brought from the community to the hospital, noting that among dozens of residential buildings that have reported multiple Covid cases, nine are in the proximity of Princess Margaret Hospital.

Some 80 people linked to the ward - including 27 medical professionals - have been tested, with results pending. Yuen said more could come down with Covid-19.

This comes as authorities reported 53 new coronavirus cases. Forty-three infections were locally acquired, six via unknown sources.

The new cases include 11 workers at the construction site for the Tseung Kwan O - Lam Tin Tunnel.

And Tuen Mun Hospital reported the deaths of two coronavirus patients, aged 79 and 80, who had been admitted in early December. This brings to 149 the number of deaths in Hong Kong attributed to Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the Director of Health, Constance Chan, faced questions over the U-turn on the arrangements for the daily coronavirus media briefing.

The government announced on Sunday that the briefing would be moved online for social distancing purposes, and reporters could only submit their questions in written form.

But journalist groups opposed the move, accusing officials of trying to evade questions of a critical nature.

Chan insisted that the original plan to move the press conference online was aimed at preventing infections, and said the decision on questions in written form was down to the fact that some technical problems had yet to be resolved.

She said that after taking into consideration journalists’ concerns, the daily briefing would continue to be held in person, but would be moved to the more spacious auditorium at the government's headquarters in Tamar instead of at the Centre for Health Protection.

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