Returnees End Brief Run Of No New Virus Cases

Hong Kong recorded four new Covid-19 infections on Thursday, after two days of no additional cases whatsoever.

The three men and one boy had all returned to the SAR from Pakistan on Wednesday. They hadn't been out in the community since arriving home, and were transferred to hospital from a quarantine centre.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said the four hadn't shown any symptoms, but samples taken at AsiaWorld-Expo came back positive for the virus.

"The recent cases are all imported cases directly picked up at the airport. They have not stayed in the community so I think the risk for local transmission is very low, except for those contacts who are now in a quarantine centre," Chuang said.

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week had brought no new coronavirus cases, while there was just one on Monday, a 27-year-old woman who had flown into the city from the United States that day.

Despite the four new cases, which take Hong Kong's total to 1,044, no locally acquired infections have been recorded for 18 days in a row.

With the situation appearing to be easing, from Friday some of the SAR's social distancing measures are being dropped, with various businesses such as bars, cinemas and gyms, allowed to reopen.

A limit on gatherings in public places will also be relaxed, from the current four people to eight.