Coronavirus infections rise to 91 after three more temple cases

Six more people in Hong Kong tested positive for novel coronavirus (Covid-19) infection, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the city to 91, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) under the Department of Health said.

Among the new cases are three linked to Fook Wai Ching She, a Buddhist temple at Maylun Apartments on Shu Kuk Street in North Point, the Hong Kong Economic Journal reports.

They include a 49-year-old woman (the 86th case) who lives in Block B of Healthy Gardens in North Point. She has had coughs with sputum and sore throat since Feb. 18.

A volunteer cleaner at the temple, the woman was admitted to the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital (PYNEH) on Sunday before her respiratory sample tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.

She had no travel history during the incubation period, and is now in a stable condition.

Her husband and son who live with her are asymptomatic and will be arranged for quarantine, according to a government press release issued on Wednesday night.

The 89th case is an 80-year-old man whose wife is the 74th case confirmed on Feb. 23. He lives in Maylun Apartments.

He was admitted to the PYNEH on Tuesday after having fever and coughs, and subsequently, he tested positive for Covid-19.

The man, who is now in a stable condition, had no travel history during the incubation period and did not visit Fook Wai Ching She.

His daughter, who lives with him, developed symptoms and was transferred to PYNEH, while his granddaughter and domestic helper, who are asymptomatic, have been arranged for quarantine.

The 91st case is a 26-year-old man whose mother is the 76th case confirmed on Monday. He had not visited the temple.

He was admitted for treatment at Ruttonjee Hospital on Monday, where his respiratory sample tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday. He is now in a stable condition.

His father, second brother and domestic helper who live with him are all asymptomatic. They have been arranged for quarantine, according to the government press release.

Together with nine other nine previously confirmed patients, the total number of Covid-19 infections linked to the temple has increased to 12.

Dr. Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the CHP’s Communicable Disease Branch, told a press briefing that 202 people with connections with the temple have called the CHP hotline as of Wednesday.

Among them are 32 who would be quarantined after saying they had visited the temple, while the rest would be placed under medical surveillance, Chuang said.

Dr. Sara Ho Yuen-ha, the Hospital Authority’s chief manager for patient safety and risk management, said individuals who had been to the temple between Jan. 25 and Feb. 25 and showed symptoms would be placed in quarantine.

A 29-year-old domestic helper also tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, a day after her employer, a Hong Kong Jockey Club member, did.

The domestic helper (the 90th case) who lives with her employer at Block 4 of Swiss Towers in Tai Hang developed fever on Feb. 16, and consulted a private doctor on Feb. 20 and 24. She was sent to Ruttonjee Hospital on Tuesday.

She had no travel history during the incubation period, and remains in a stable condition.

Her employer's husband and son, as well as another domestic helper, are all asymptomatic and have been arranged for quarantine, the government press release said.

The other two confirmed cases are a 21-year-old woman (the 87th case) and her 16-year-old brother (the 88th case), who were quarantined at Chun Yeung Estate in Fo Tan after they returned to Hong Kong from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan, on a chartered flight on Sunday.

Preliminary testing of their respiratory samples returned positive results. They were transferred to Queen Mary Hospital for treatment on Tuesday. Further testing confirmed they were infected on Wednesday.

Their parents and maternal grandfather are currently staying in Japan for treatment after they had been diagnosed to be infected. 

Their younger sister has no symptoms and is under quarantine at the Chun Yeung Estate quarantine camp, the government press release said.

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