Two of the preliminary patients and two of those confirmed as infected had all visited the same Buddhist temple on Hong Kong Island.

The newest confirmed patient, a 96-year-old woman, was sent to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, in Chai Wan, after having difficulty breathing.

She lives at Fly Dragon Terrace on Tin Hau Temple Road, and had visited the Fook Wai Ching She Buddhist worship hall at Maylun Apartments on King’s Road in North Point in January and February. The city’s 65th confirmed patient also recently visited the hall, health authorities said.

“People who visited the place since January 25 should contact us,” said Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection, adding that it would be hard to trace people who had close contact with the elderly woman at the hall.

The first preliminary case concerned a 68-year-old man evacuated from the cruise ship, which has been moored in Tokyo Bay since February 4 because of an outbreak on board. He arrived in the city during Saturday’s early hours on the government’s second chartered flight for evacuees, according to medical sources, and was briefly quarantined on Chun Yeung estate in Fo Tan.

Chuang said the man was sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Jordan, after developing a fever in quarantine.

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Late on Saturday, two more elderly women – who had both visited the same North Point temple as patients 65 and 70 – also tested positive in an initial screening, according to medical sources.

Both of them, aged 76 and 80, were being treated at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital.

The latest flight carrying Hongkongers evacuated from the Diamond Princess had been expected to leave Tokyo at 1.45am on Sunday, local time. But it took off 10 minutes later before landing at 6.10am, Hong Kong time.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday evening in Japan, Undersecretary for Security Sonny Au Chi-kwong said five city residents would take the flight. Two of them had been allowed to disembark earlier, and three had only recently tested negative.

He also revealed 70 Hong Kong passengers were infected on the ship, up from 68 earlier in the day. They would stay in Japan, as well as 30 others who had been in close contact with infected patients.

Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu said earlier that government-chartered flights would not carry any close contacts.

“We are appealing to all Hong Kong residents who are still in Japan to take our chartered flight,” Lee said. “It is our aim to take back any who are allowed to leave, and are not a close contact.”

A total of 364 Hong Kong residents were stranded on the cruise ship for two weeks, after a previous passenger – also from the city – was confirmed as infected with the coronavirus, which causes Covid-19.

As of Saturday, 188 had left Japan on two chartered flights.

The second flight, which arrived in the city at 1.30am on Saturday, carried 82 Hongkongers and two Macau residents. The flight was delayed by more than four hours, after Japanese authorities mistakenly barred the evacuees from leaving, thinking some had been close contacts of confirmed cases.

A group of 18, including one Macau resident, that was ultimately turned away from the flight ended up paying for their own tickets home, despite being offered free hotel stays to wait for another chartered flight.

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said that, taking into account those who left the country on their own, 208 Hong Kong residents were back from Japan under quarantine on Chun Yeung Estate.

Residents classed as close contacts, and so unable to leave the country, were on Saturday given the option of being transferred to a quarantine facility north of Tokyo.

Anyone who accepted the offer would get free accommodation at facilities including the National Tax College’s Wako Campus in Saitama prefecture, according to a notice issued by the cruise company.

Of the transfer arrangement, Lee said city officials would “be monitoring this and liaise with Japanese authorities so we know where Hong Kong people will be sent”, noting that 32 Hongkongers on board were known to have had close contact with infected people.

Among city residents still on board on Saturday was a 70-year-old woman with chronic heart problems, whose husband had been confirmed with the virus on February 16.

Her husband, who has been hospitalised since being confirmed, told the Post his wife had “gone from heaven to hell emotionally” after knowing she could not board the second chartered flight on Friday, but was already in better spirits after learning she had the option of moving to a university campus to continue her quarantine.

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“There will be a single room with a balcony. It’s much better, as she can at least get some fresh air on land rather than being quarantined on the ship, where she can’t even open any windows,” he said.

While only passengers with proof of negative viral test results would be allowed to board the flights back to Hong Kong, Dr Joseph Tsang Kay-yan, an infectious diseases specialist, said it was possible the 68-year-old man wrongly tested negative on the boat because of a sampling error, insufficient viral load, or a mix-up between tests.

“That’s why it’s necessary to do mandatory quarantine for the group after they come back to Hong Kong and to do viral tests in Hong Kong again to verify after the quarantine,” Tsang said.

Dentist Alan Lam, who was among the second batch of travellers to return to the city, said he had thought it possible that someone would test positive after returning to Hong Kong.

The 56-year-old said some passengers, including himself, stayed on the ship for days after their samples – determining whether or not they could leave – were collected.

“The certification is only valid [until] the day [the sample was collected],” he said.

He said the risk of infection on the flight was low, as health authorities had adopted measures to separate passengers and everyone wore masks.

Another passenger, Young Wo-sang, said he was not worried he might contract the virus, because he had mainly stayed in his room on the cruise, and because of the flight’s seating plan keeping people apart.

Meanwhile, health authorities said a 59-year-old man, who had returned from the cruise in Japan and was quarantined in Fo Tan, developed a fever on Saturday afternoon. He was sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei for treatment.