Health officials today confirmed that a toddler has become the youngest person in Hong Kong to contract COVID-19.
The 16-month-old and his parents had recently traveled from London to Hong Kong, and were on the same flight as two other people who would later be found to have contracted the new coronavirus. The boy’s parents, both in their 30s, became confirmed cases on Thursday, and he was sent to Princess Margaret Hospital for testing after doctors noticed he had a runny nose.
Local media reported this morning that the toddler had preliminarily tested positive, and Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection confirmed at a daily press briefing this afternoon that he was one of three newly confirmed cases this afternoon.
Chuang said that the other two confirmed cases were a 67-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman, referred to as cases 134 and 135, respectively.
Case 134, a businessman from Lam Tsuen, had traveled to the U.K. on Feb. 27, and flew first class back to Hong Kong on March 8 via Cathay Pacific flight CX250.
Chuang said the man did meet with an Italian man during his trip, but the man was asymptomatic. Italy, however, is in lockdown after new coronavirus cases exploded there, making it the second-hardest hit country in the world. The Hong Kong government issued a travel alert for the country earlier this week.
Case 134 went to work on Monday and had a meeting with colleagues at 625 King’s Road in North Point, and drove himself to Ruttonjee Hospital on Tuesday after developing a cough and fever.
Case 135, meanwhile, lives in Sheung Wan and had traveled to Greece, London, and Paris between Feb. 10 and March 5. She returned to Hong Kong on March 5 via Turkish Airlines flight TK70 where she flew business class. She went hiking with friends in Clearwater Bay on Sunday, and took herself to Ruttonjee Hospital after developing symptoms that same day.
Additionally, Chuang said that a 61-year-old man from Stanley who had recently visited relatives in Colorado has also preliminarily tested positive this morning and is expected to become a confirmed case later today.
Chuang was also joined at today’s presser by Lau Ka-hin, from the Hospital Authority, who confirmed that the toddler is being looked after by pediatric infection experts, and was in a stable condition with a runny nose and mild fever. He added that at the moment no anti-viral drugs were being prescribed, and that doctors were giving him Panadol.
Lau also gave more details on the circumstances surrounding the death of a confirmed patient this morning.
He confirmed that the deceased had high blood pressure, and had previously suffered a stroke and had polio. After testing positive for COVID-19, he was put into isolation at the Pamela Youde Nethersole Hospital, and had been given three anti-viral drugs.
He was then put on a positive pressure respirator after the oxygen levels in his blood dropped on Friday, and was transferred to the hospital’s ICU. Lau said that his condition had improved, and he was taken off the respirator, but suddenly took a turn for the worse yesterday. His heartbeat stopped at 10:30am on Friday.
