Hong Kong's health authorities today confirmed a single-day record of 67 new COVID-19 infections.
Sixty three of the new cases are believed to have contracted the virus locally. Of those, 35 were infected via unknown sources. Both figures are all-time highs.
However, the Centre for Health Protection's spokeswoman Dr. Chuang Shuk-kwan warned that the figures could keep going up. "I can't say it's a peak," she told a regular press conference. "There's a chance that more cases are coming."
The mystery infections include two staff members at Queen Elizabeth Hospital – which had earlier confirmed that three patients from the same ward had been infected.
One of the staffers lives at the coronavirus hotspot of Tsz Wan Shan, while the other works in a control room at the hospital, who manages non-emergency vehicles.
A chief manager of the Hospital Authority, Lau Ka-hin, said the infection of some hospital staff was ‘inevitable’, as Hong Kong is going through a ‘new wave’ of community infections involving hundreds of cases.
He said while the authority has put infection control measures in place to try to protect patients and staff in hospitals, they’re not foolproof, as some patients with no symptoms of COVID-19 could be admitted.
Lau said the authorities would continue to ramp up testing to identify these ‘invisible’ virus carriers.
A part-time taxi driver and a supermarket cashier were also among the new cases with no known exposure to the novel coronavirus.
Authorities have been expressing alarm at the growing number of cases that cannot be linked to previous infections, as this suggests the virus is being spread over a wide area in the community.
Twenty-eight new infections are epidemiologically linked to previous cases, including a student and a parent from the Good Hope School in Choi Hung.
More infections are linked to a number of restaurants dotted across the city, and another elderly resident of a care home at the centre of a major cluster in Tsz Wan Shan has come down with the disease.
At the same time, four more imported COVID-19 cases were confirmed today.
Despite the warnings that the outbreak is getting worse, Undersecretary for Food and Health Chui Tak-yi played down the possibility that all non-essential civil servants could again be told to work from home, stressing the need for the government to maintain its public services.
He said working from home was only one of many measures to encourage social distancing, and there are existing measures to cut down on crowds in the office, such as staggered working and meal hours.
He encouraged the private sector to make suitable adjustments to their work schedule as well.
Macau has confirmed 46 COVID-19 cases since late January. Only one of the patients is still in hospital. Macau has not confirmed a new local COVID-19 case for 109 days, according to official statistics.
- RTHK, MPD
