Update | One of four suspected Mers cases picked up at Hong Kong health centres tests negative
For the first time, tests ordered on patients picked up away from the airport as mainland officials warn of ‘significant’ increase in threat
One of four patients admitted to hospital suspected of carrying Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) has tested negative for the virus, hospital officials announced on Thursday.
It was unclear whether the three remaining patients had also tested negative, with the hospital authority only saying that no confirmed case had been found so far. The authority confirmed the 22-year-old woman who sought treatment at a clinic operated by the Quality HealthCare group in the Tsing Yi MTR station had tested negative.
The suspected cases, picked up at the city's health centres, marked the first time the wider community may have been exposed to the deadly virus.
All four fell ill after visiting South Korea, where an outbreak has killed nine people and infected 108.
Until now, all of the suspected Mers cases in Hong Kong were intercepted during temperature checks at the airport.
From noon on Tuesday to noon on Wednesday, more than 30 suspected cases were reported, but about half initially tested negative for Mers.