An 11-month-old girl who tested positive for COVID-19 has died in Hong Kong, becoming the city’s youngest fatality suspected to have been caused by the virus.
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, Lau Ka-hin, the Hospital Authority’s chief manager (quality and standards), said the infant was sent to the accident and emergency department of Tseung Kwan O Hospital on Saturday morning as she developed convulsions.
“That girl has all along been in good health… The patient was stable all along until 4am on [Saturday]. At that time, the patient was having a fever and developed convulsions,” he said.
She later tested positive for COVID-19 at the hospital. She was intubated and then transferred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit.
However, her condition deteriorated rapidly and she suffered a cardiac arrest at noon on Saturday.
She passed away at 6:59pm on Sunday.
Lau said authorities could not identify the cause of death at this moment and the case was referred to the Coroner’s Court for further investigation as the patient “was just admitted for one to two days”.
The chief manager added some of her family members, including her caretaker, parents, eight-year-old brother, twin sister and grandmother, did the rapid antigen test at home and got the positive result.
Her death is the third child fatality linked to or suspected to be related to the coronavirus in the city in 10 days.
A three-year-old girl who was infected with COVID-19 died last Tuesday, while a four-year-old boy carrying the virus passed away on Feb. 11.
Referring to guidelines by the Hong Kong Pediatric Society, Lau said parents should immediately call an ambulance if they notice symptoms in their children such as breathing difficulties, lips turning purple, chest pains, an increase in heart rate, a sudden change in consciousness, persistent high fever, convulsions and difficulties in eating.
The city also recorded 12 other deaths in the past 24 hours, with the oldest being 97 years old.
Lau said most of them are elderly.
So far, 311 patients confirmed or preliminary confirmed for COVID-19 infection have passed away in public hospitals.
Meanwhile, the Centre of Health Protection reported 7,533 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, another record for the city.
All but three are local infections.
