Retired HKUST academic among new Covid infections

A retired academic at the University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has come down with coronavirus, and health authorities said his case may be linked to a 28-year-old man who was allowed to skip compulsory quarantine after arriving here from Shenzhen.

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said the pair had meetings together last week after the younger man came to the SAR in the middle of last month.

He had tested negative for Covid-19 upon arrival, and was allowed to be exempted from 14 days of compulsory quarantine under a government scheme for local residents returning from Guangdong.

Last weekend, the 28-year-old flew from Hong Kong to Shanghai where he was confirmed to be carrying the virus.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the CHP said the older patient lives in the staff quarters of HKUST in Clearwater Bay. He still has an office at the university but is no longer responsible for teaching duties.

She added that local health authorities are in talks with their counterparts across the border over the investigations into the cases.

Hong Kong reported 13 new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday, six of which were imported cases.

Of the seven local cases, health authorities were unable to trace the source of infection for four of them.

Authorities also reported more than 10 preliminary positive cases, with at least nine of them untraceable.

Chuang said one of the preliminary positive cases involved a saleswoman who had been to a bar in the SoHo district in Central.