Health officials confirmed on Sunday that an elderly woman has become the latest person to die of the coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths to three.
A statement published by the Hospital Authority on Sunday evening confirmed that the deceased was case 99, a 76-year-old woman from Sham Shui Po who was admitted to hospital after she and her husband tested positive for coronavirus at the beginning of March
The HA confirmed that her condition had deteriorated, and she passed away at 5:13pm on Sunday while receiving treatment at the Caritas Medical Centre. Her widower remains in hospital.
The HA also confirmed that, so far, 58 patients who contracted COVID-19 have been discharged, and 91 suspected cases are currently in isolation.
The news of the woman’s death comes after eight more people, aged 38 to 76, were confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, bringing the total number of cases in the city to 115, including one “probable” case.
The newly confirmed cases include the 69-year-old husband of a woman who was part of a tour group who visited India, and three other people — one man, 76, and two women, aged 73 and 59 — who were part of the same tour group, bringing the total number of cases in the India tour group cluster to six.
One of the newly-confirmed cases is the 55-year-old husband of a confirmed case who had visited a Buddhist Temple in North Point that has been at the center of another cluster of coronavirus cases that has infected 19 people so far.
A second domestic worker who worked for case 85 — the Jockey Club member whose Pomeranian is believed to be the first-known case of human-to-animal transmission of COVID-19 — was also confirmed to have the coronavirus.
The other two cases are a 41-year-old man from Happy Valley who had traveled to Tokyo and Glasgow via London, and a 38-year-old woman who returned to Hong Kong from Wuhan via one of the government-chartered flights arranged to transport Hongkongers trapped in the Chinese city back to the SAR.
In other coronavirus-related news, there were some tense scenes in Tai Po on Sunday afternoon after riot police arrived to disperse a crowd who had gathered to protest plans to designate the Tai Po Jockey Club Clinic as one that would handle mild coronavirus cases. This contingency plan would be implemented if the coronavirus outbreak widens, and is aimed at taking the strain off public hospitals.
Tensions grew throughout the afternoon and evening with riot police raising blue flags and deploying pepper spray on the crowds.
HK01 reports that as of this morning, 23 people* — comprising 17 males and six females — aged 13 to 68 were arrested on suspicion of illegal assembly, obstructing the police in the execution of their duties, possession of tools for illegal use, and theft.
The outlet reports that three district councillors and their assistants were among those arrested.
*UPDATE: This article has been updated to include the number of people arrested at the Tai Po protest.
