#14,844
Earlier today, Hong Kong announced 2 confirmed coronavirus cases (55, F & 69,M) , along with 3 strongly suspected cases. Since then, 4 additional cases have been confirmed and several close contacts of theirs are reportedly symptomatic.
In a bit of a twist, the 44th case lives in the same apartment complex as Hong Kong's 12th case, which has led to concerns that - as we saw in 2003 with the Amoy Gardens SARS cluster - environmental transmission via the sewage system might be a factor.As a result, local media is reporting The Hong Kong Government will evacuate all units of 07 units in Hong Mei House, Cheung Hong Estate, Tsing Yi.
The announcement from the CHP today advises `. . . maintain drainage pipes properly and regularly pour water into drain outlets (U-traps); after using the toilet, they should put the toilet lid down before flushing to avoid spreading germs."
If that advice is new to you, you may wish to visit my 2015 blog, NIOSH Video: Adventures In Toilet Plume Research, which shows how easily a flushing toilet can aerosolize germs. I wrote a follow-up blog in 2018; Toilet Bowl SundayMoving on. The 44th case lives with 4 other people, two of which are symptomatic and heading for isolation, while two are moving into quarantine.
The Family Banquet cluster increases again with the addition of a 55-year-old woman and a 52-year-old man, who attended the part in late January, bring that cluster's total to 11 (of 19 who attended).
And lastly, a new family cluster of 3, which includes a 69 year old man, his 63 year old wife, and her 89 year old mother. None have recent travel history outside of Hong Kong.
CHP investigates six additional cases of novel coronavirus infection
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) announced that as of 8pm yesterday (February 10), the CHP is investigating six additional cases of novel coronavirus infection, taking to 42 the number of confirmed cases so far in Hong Kong.
Two of the additional cases are the close contacts of the male patient of the 27th case announced on February 9. The patients are a 55-year-old woman and a 52-year-old man who are respectively the aunt and uncle of the male patient of the 27th case. The two patients have good past health and did not have any travel history during the incubation period. On January 26, they both attended the same gathering as the patients of the nine confirmed cases from the same family cluster announced yesterday.
The 55-year-old female patient lives in Tai Wo House, Wo Che Estate in Sha Tin. She developed fever, cough and runny nose on January 30 and consulted a private doctor on the same day. She was admitted to the Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH) on February 9.
Her respiratory sample was tested positive for novel coronavirus. She is now in a stable condition. Her husband is asymptomatic and is under quarantine while her son has developed symptoms and is admitted to the PWH for isolation and treatment.
The 52-year-old male patient belongs to the same family cluster. He is the husband of a 51-year-old female patient and is the father of a 25-year-old female and a 22-year-old male patients confirmed on February 9. He lives in Lai Chi building, 42-56 Leighton Road in Wan Chai. He developed cough, sore throat and dry mouth since February 8. He was admitted to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital (PYNEH) for management on February 9. His respiratory sample was tested positive for novel coronavirus. He is now in a stable condition.
The other three cases belong to another family cluster. The index case is a 69-year-old man with underlying illnesses who resides in Cheung Hing Building, 110 Sai Wan Ho Street. He developed cough since January 30 and consulted a private doctor on February 7. He attended the Accident and Emergency Department at PYNEH on February 9 due to shortness of breath and was admitted for isolation and management. His respiratory sample was tested positive for novel coronavirus. He is now in a critical condition.
Based on the epidemiological investigations of this case, the CHP has traced and confirmed two more cases of novel coronavirus infection yesterday, namely the 63-year-old wife and 86-year-old mother-in-law of the 69-year-old man. All of them live together. His wife has underlying illnesses while his mother-in-law enjoys good past health. They presented with cough since January 30 and January 28 respectively. They were transferred to PYNEH for isolation and management yesterday by the CHP. Their respiratory samples were tested positive for novel coronavirus. They are now in a stable condition.
According to the 69-year-old male patient's information, he had no travel history during the incubation period. He mainly stayed at home. The 63-year-old female patient had been to Sai Wan Ho General Out-patient Clinic on January 31. His sister-in-law had been to their home for lunch on January 31, but have been asymptomatic so far and quarantine will be arranged.
The taxi driver who drove the patient and his wife from Cheung Hing Building, Sai Wan Ho to PYNEH at around noon on February 9 is urged to call the CHP hotline.
The sixth additional case involves a 62-year-old woman residing in the same building as for the patient of the 12th case, i.e. Hong Mei House, Cheung Hong Estate in Tsing Yi. She developed cough since February 3 and consulted a private doctor on February 3, 5 and 7. She sought treatment at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) on February 9 where she was admitted for isolation and management. Her respiratory sample was tested positive for novel coronavirus. She is in stable condition.
According to the patient's information, she visited Macao from January 18 to 19. Her son and daughter-in-law who lived with her have presented with symptoms and will be sent to PMH, and quarantine will be arranged for her husband and grandson who lived with her and are asymptomatic.
The taxi driver who drove the patient from her home to PMH at around 2pm on February 9 is urged to call the CHP hotline.
A spokesman for the CHP said, "According to our preliminary epidemiological investigations, some of the confirmed cases are believed to be locally infected. The CHP strongly urged the public to maintain at all times strict personal and environmental hygiene which is key to personal protection against infection and prevention of the spread of the disease in the community."
The spokesman said, "On the personal level, members of the public should wear a surgical mask when having respiratory symptoms, taking public transport or staying in crowded places. They should also perform hand hygiene frequently, especially before touching the mouth, nose or eyes. The public should go out less and reduce social activities, and maintain appropriate social distance with other people as far as possible."
"As for household environmental hygiene, members of the public are advised to maintain drainage pipes properly and regularly pour water into drain outlets (U-traps); after using the toilet, they should put the toilet lid down before flushing to avoid spreading germs."
The CHP will report the cases to the World Health Organization, National Health Commission, Health Commission of Guangdong Province and Health Bureau of Macao.
The CHP's epidemiological investigations and relevant contact tracing on the confirmed cases are ongoing. The CHP is also closely monitoring and following up on the contact tracing of relevant confirmed cases in the Mainland and overseas. Quarantine will be arranged for close contacts while medical surveillance will be arranged for other contacts. For the progress on the contact tracing of the cases, please see annex.
The CHP has set up a hotline (2125 1122) for public enquiries. The hotline operates from 8am to midnight daily. As at 4pm yesterday, a total of 9 489 calls were received.
A dedicated webpage (www.gov.hk/ncv) has been set up by the CHP. Information including the latest local situation, list of buildings and list of flights/trains/ships relevant to the confirmed cases, countries/areas with reported cases as well as health advice and a "Novel Coronavirus Infection Local Situation Interactive Map Dashboard" are available on the webpage to help the public grasp the latest updates.
