Hong Kong records another 13 coronavirus infections

Health authorities on Friday reported 13 new coronavirus infections, 10 of which were locally acquired and four of these with no known source of infection.

A 23-year-old man who works in Sha Tin was one of the new patients.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said four of the man’s relatives were infected back in February, and he was put under quarantine and tested negative for the virus repeatedly.

She said the man developed a fever on Wednesday and subsequently tested positive for Covid-19, but his viral load was low.

Chuang said officials would be checking whether or not the man has antibodies for Covid in order to determine if it is a new infection.

A 62-year-old housewife who lives in Lam Tin has also come down with the disease.

Chuang said the woman regularly visited a restaurant near her home. A neighbour she came into contact with at the eatery also tested preliminary positive for the virus.

The doctor said officials do not consider this to be an outbreak at the restaurant, but staff there will be tested for the virus.

“If two people go to the restaurant and have meals and both of them get infected, this is not counted as a restaurant outbreak. It’s just a person-to-person transmission. The neighbour who met the patient in the restaurant… it’s also a person-to-person transmission. We have not found other unrelated cases who just went to the restaurant and got infected at the moment,” Chuang said.

Two other unlinked cases involved a 36-year-old man who works at One Island East and a 71-year-old man who works at a restaurant in Tuen Mun.

In the evening, authorities locked down Tower 9 of La Splendeur at Lohas Park in Tseung Kwan O, where one of the confirmed patients live.

All residents there will be required to get tested for Covid, with government saying the lockdown should be lifted by 8am on Saturday.

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Last updated: 2021-03-19 HKT 20:33