Coronavirus: nervous neighbours, councillors believe brother of deceased patient left rather than face quarantine
- Numerous neighbours told the Post the man lived with his mother, who on Sunday was also confirmed to carry the deadly virus
- Security guards at Whampoa Garden now cleaning lift buttons and railings every hour, much as they did during the 2003 Sars outbreak
A sense of panic is building at a private estate in Kowloon’s Hung Hom area, where neighbours are questioning whether everyone in close contact with the city’s first confirmed coronavirus fatality has been quarantined.
District councillors have joined residents of Whampoa Garden in calling on the Department of Health and the Home Affairs Department to help track down the older brother of the 39-year-old coronavirus victim, the city’s 13th confirmed case, who died of sudden heart failure on Tuesday.
At question is who precisely the brother was living with.
According to several neighbours, the missing man lived with his 72-year-old mother, who on Sunday was also confirmed to carry the virus, while a source from the Department of Health has said officials believe he lived in another apartment. The woman has no history of recent travel, making her the first confirmed human-to-human infection locally.
“The mother lived with the elder son,” a neighbour who lives upstairs from the family and requested anonymity told the Post. “The deceased man, his wife, their two children and a Filipino domestic helper lived [three floors higher].
