Expect upward trend in unlinked Covid cases, says CHP

Health authorities on Wednesday reported 30 untraceable local Covid infections, the second day in a row that the number has been at its highest since the fifth wave of infections began.

The Centre for Health Protection’s Chuang Shuk-kwan said the number hadn’t peaked yet.

“The number of cases without sources is expected to be increasing,” she said.

“Because of the short incubation period once he or she is diagnosed, he or she may have already infected other people in the family or at the workplace, or other close contacts, so the speed of spread is very quick.”

She said the untraceable patients were from all over Hong Kong – including Sai Ying Pun, Mong Kok, Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan and Ma On Shan.

There were a total of 116 infections, with 103 of them being locally transmitted.

The centre is partially evacuating residents at two blocks in Kwai Fong and Tai Po, saying virus transmission may be taking place at Kwai Foon House and Mei Sun Building.

Chuang said anyone who has been to the Sports Institute in Sha Tin, and a temple at Cheong Fok House in Sham Shui Po, must get tested, after a small number of cases emerged from the venues.

Meanwhile, the Hospital Authority said it was updating guidelines for Covid patients to go home following a surge of cases.

HA chief manager, Lau Ka-hin, said patients could be discharged if their tests showed a very low viral load – namely a CT value higher than 33 for three days in a row.

He said the patients would still need to be quarantined for two weeks at home, and be tested regularly, but that they would not pose an infection risk.

“When the patient’s CT value is higher than 33, the virus is already dead. We can’t grow any virus from the sample with a CT value more than 30 in a study at The University of Hong Kong. So that means the patient is not infective,” he explained.

Separately, he said a Covid patient, aged 77, had turned critical.

The woman, who also suffers from diabetes and hyperlipidemia, had not been vaccinated.