Coronavirus: Hong Kong’s number of new cases drops to four, but residents warned over possible surge

15 Aprile 2020
  • Sunday’s figure is lowest since mid-March, but health official says weeks needed before government can say situation is under control
  • City told to expect more infections coming from travellers, especially as mainland China reopens for business
New coronavirus infections in Hong Kong dropped to just four on Sunday, the lowest number in nearly a month, but health officials and experts warned of a potential surge in imported cases as well as the risks raised by residents growing complacent.
The city could be hit by a “third wave” of transmissions from arriving mainland Chinese as businesses reopened across the nation and people began to travel again after weeks of lockdown, experts warned, while the health minister said community clusters remained a deep concern, as many ignored social-distancing laws to head outdoors under clear blue skies  during the Easter break.

The coronavirus “does not know it is a holiday,” Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee said.

Three of the latest infections came from overseas and the single local case was a close contact of an existing Covid-19 patient, according to Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, the head of the communicable disease branch at the Centre for Health Protection.

“I cannot say this is under control yet because usually what is meant by under control is if we don’t have any cases in at least one or two incubation periods,” Chuang said. “You need more than two weeks or a month.”

The city has already barred all non-residents from entering, except travellers from Macau, Taiwan and the mainland who have not been to any other foreign countries in the last 14 days. All air travellers must submit deep-throat saliva samples upon arrival before going straight into a mandatory 14-day self-isolation.

The government is also requiring people coming from Britain to be tested at a temporary facility at AsiaWorld-Expo, near the airport, and remain there until the results are ready. The arrangement will be extended to all people coming from the United States and Europe beginning on Monday.

Despite the curbs on arrivals, Hong Kong recorded 1,646 arrivals on Friday and 960 on Saturday, mostly returning residents.

Hospitals are treating 637 Covid-19 patients, 13 of whom are listed as critical. Amid the strain, half of non-urgent services at public hospitals have been suspended, according to Dr Sara Ho Yuen-ha, the chief manager of patient safety and risk management for the Hospital Authority. They were looking at how some services could resume, she said, describing the outbreak as a “protracted war”.

Public hospitals have already sent some patients to private facilities, including four pregnant women for caesarean section, according to Ho.

Despite the fewer infections in recent days, the city continued to face a significant threat, warned Dr Leung Chi-Chiu, chairman of the Medical Association’s advisory committee on communicable diseases.

“The condition is coming under control … but we don’t have herd immunity nor vaccines yet” Leung said while highlighting the risk of imported cases. “The chain of transmission in our community has not been completely cut yet.”

The health secretary earlier on Sunday repeated calls for people to stay at home after scenes of residents gathering at beaches and in country parks since Friday. “We understand people may be feeling restless, especially on the Easter holiday,” Chan told a radio programme. “But the virus does not know it is a holiday.”

In a sign the city might be letting its guard down, a local travel agency came under fire for organising group tours to the mainland scheduled for next month. WWPKG later decided to cancel all its trips until June 19 and said it understood official warnings against leaving the city.

Authorities have moved 56 people from government quarantine to their homes for the final four days of two weeks of isolation under an arrangement that came into effect on Saturday aimed at relieving pressure on the facilities.

On a separate television programme, medical experts including Dr Gabriel Choi Kin, former president of the Medical Association, said a third wave of coronavirus infections could hit Hong Kong as lockdowns were lifted in cities across mainland China.

Wuhan in Hubei province, where cases of Covid-19 began to emerge in late December, lifted its curbs on Wednesday after two and a half months.

“I’m worried about the third wave of infections coming from people arriving in Hong Kong from the mainland, with the country opening up now,” Choi said. “If no measures are implemented, it is possible that the infected could enter the community.”

Dr Arisina Ma Chung-yee, president of the Hong Kong Public Doctors’ Association, agreed, saying: “Some cities on the mainland have not fully opened up. We can tell that perhaps their governments also have reservations on epidemic control measures.”

Hong Kong businesses continue to flout social-distancing laws, with about 1,700 warnings given to restaurants for failing to follow the rules, according to Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Director Vivian Lau Lee-kwan. Eleven operators face legal action.

Authorities had carried out 32,000 inspections on eateries, issuing about 30 penalties of HK$2,000 (US$257), she said.

Additional reporting by Zoe Low