HONG KONG’S Center for Health Protection (CHP) reported 19 additional local infections and five imported cases of COVID-19 yesterday.

The newly reported cases, involving 24 persons aged between 31 and 92, brought the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong to 1,323.

The CHP’s epidemiological investigations show that six of the 19 local cases are related to two restaurants where outbreak clusters have been found, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the CHP’s Communicable Disease Branch, said at a media briefing yesterday afternoon.

Eight of the local cases are related to a residential care home for the elderly, involving four elderly residents and four staff members.

The sources of infection of the remaining five local cases are not clear yet, Chuang said.

Hong Kong has seen additional local COVID-19 cases for four consecutive days since Sunday.

Many of the new cases are with unknown sources of infection, which shows that the situation in Hong Kong is becoming increasingly serious, Chuang noted.

Sara Ho, a chief manager of Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority, said at the briefing that as of yesterday noon, 1,167 patients with confirmed or probable infections had been discharged from hospitals, while 138 confirmed patients remained hospitalized, including one in critical condition and one in serious condition.

The HKSAR Government’s Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan told media Tuesday evening that in view of the emergence of multiple local cases with unknown source of infection, several measures will be taken to prevent more outbreaks in Hong Kong.

Besides the specimen collection requirement on inbound travelers and flight crew, the HKSAR Government will consult with authorities in countries including Nepal and Pakistan to make arrangements and control the number of people recently arriving in Hong Kong from these areas.

Foreign domestic helpers arriving in Hong Kong will be required to show proof of negative testing result for COVID-19, and their employers will be required to arrange for them to go through a 14-day quarantine in hotels upon their arrival.

The HKSAR Government will consider more measures including stricter restrictions on the number of diners in restaurants when needed, Chan said.

According to Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority, as of Tuesday noon, a total of 1,161 patients with confirmed or probable infection had been discharged from hospitals, while 128 confirmed patients remained hospitalized, including one in critical condition and one in serious condition. 

(Xinhua)