#14,841
The first case is linked to the family banquet, and yet another family member has an initial positive test. The second case is local, with no recent travel history, and no known exposures. The second case's wife and mother-in-law have initially tested positive and will likely be confirmed later today.
First today's announcement, then I'll return with a brief postscript.
Two new cases of pneumonia
February 10, 2020
The Centre for Health Protection stated that there were two new confirmed cases of new coronavirus infection in Hong Kong, with a total of 38 cases, and three other cases were positive in initial laboratory tests.
Zhang Zhujun, director of the Infectious Diseases Division of the Centre for Health Protection, said in a press conference today that the newly confirmed cases include a 55-year-old woman who had attended a family gathering at the Wing Hing Industrial Building in Kwun Tong on January 26. relatives. She began to have fever, cough and runny nose on January 30, consulted a private doctor, and was admitted to Prince of Wales Hospital.
Another newly confirmed case was a 69-year-old man with a chronic disease who lived with his wife and mother-in-law in the Changxing Building, Xiwanhe Street. He started coughing on January 30 and had no fever. He consulted a private doctor on February 7 and was short of breath on February 9. He was admitted to the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital. The patient had no travel history within 14 days.
Zhang Zhujun said that the initial test results of his wife and mother-in-law were positive for the new coronavirus, and of the 19 people who had attended family gatherings in Yongxing Industrial Building, another had a positive initial test result. Further testing.
The Hospital Authority stated that of the 38 confirmed cases, one died and 37 remained in hospital, of which four were in critical condition and one was in serious condition.
In addition, as of noon today, the public hospital has received a total of 42 patients who met the Wuhan-related case reporting criteria in the past 24 hours. Patients were 13 men and 29 women, aged 21 to 92 years. Of all the reported cases, 95 people remain in hospital isolation.
The Protection Center has a special webpage that provides relevant information and health advice. It is updated online at 9 am and 6 pm daily to receive the latest information on reported cases, further improving the efficiency of issuing infection cases.
While Hong Kong's total stands at 38 (13 imported, the rest likely locally acquired), given what we know about mild and asymptomatic viral infections - and the prolonged incubation period of this virus - it is likely that Hong Kong has only detected some fraction of the total number of novel coronavirus cases within the city.
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| Credit CDC |
Official numbers almost always only represent the `tip of the pyramid’. And so the detection of even a few locally acquired cases by Hong Kong's CHP is enough to raise concerns over how well entrenched the novel coronavirus virus has already become in the community.
