Health officials have confirmed two more people in Hong Kong have contracted the Wuhan coronavirus — without any apparent connection to the mainland — hours after it was confirmed that a 39-year-old man had become the first person in the city to die from the little-understood virus.
The announcement means that Hong Kong has now confirmed 17 cases of the novel coronavirus, four of which were locally transmitted.
Speaking to reporters at a daily 4:30pm press conference today, Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection confirmed that the latest cases comprise a 64-year-old female shop owner and a 60-year-old retired man, who were referred to in the press briefing as cases 16 and 17, respectively.
Case 16 developed a fever and a cough in the days before Lunar New Year last month, but continued to work at her boutique shop in Jordan. She later went to the hospital and was ultimately put into isolation after testing positive for the virus.
Case 17, who lives in Kwun Tong, had been to the doctors on at least four occasions since Jan. 22 after feeling tired and feverish. He then went to at least two different public hospitals before eventually being admitted to an isolation ward after testing positive.
Chuang said that neither patient had been to the mainland, meaning they contracted the virus locally, and that there was “no obvious source of infection.”
Chuang warned that the latest two cases show the virus may be being transmitted by “hidden sources,” or people who aren’t showing any apparent symptoms.
When asked by reporters why it took so long for doctors to act on case 17 given that his numerous visits to the doctor, Chuang said that the man had stayed under the radar because his symptoms were “quite mild,” adding that it’s currently flu season, with many patients visiting doctors with similar symptoms.
“He did not have any travel history to Hubei, or even to mainland, or outside Hong Kong, so it’s difficult for a doctor to identify such cases in the community, and it’s also very difficult for us to test every person with fever or suspicious symptoms in the community,” she said.
Also at the press briefing was Lau Ka-hin, the Hospital Authority’s chief manager for quality and standards, who provided more details on the 39-year-old man, referred to as case 13, who died in hospital this morning days after testing positive for the novel coronavirus.
Lau said that he was transferred to the infection center at Princess Margaret Hospital on Friday, Jan. 31, and had been in a stable condition for the past few days. In the last two days, however, doctors noticed a shortness of breath, and his condition suddenly deteriorated this morning.
He went into cardiac arrest, and doctors at the hospital tried to resuscitate him, but were unsuccessful.
“Doctors are unable to explain the cause of death, even though he had the Wuhan coronavirus pneumonia,” Lau said. “He has been referred to corner’s court for investigation.”
Lau also confirmed to reporters that case 13 also had diabetes, but it wasn’t clear if his diabetes was related to his death, and that an autopsy was needed.
