Coronavirus: three more Hong Kong residents confirmed infected with Covid-19, including businessman who visited Europe

Those infected are businessman, 56, who had visited London and Paris, 84-year-old who toured Mumbai, and husband, 69, of coronavirus patient

The health department also announced trials of unproven antiviral drug remdesivir would begin at three city hospitals next week

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A 56-year-old businessman who recently returned from London is being treated for Covid-19 at Ruttonjee Hospital. Photo: Handout

Published: 11:28am, 6 Mar 2020Updated: 1:27am, 7 Mar 2020

Three more Covid-19 cases were confirmed in Hong Kong on Friday, including a businessman recently back from Europe, bringing the city’s tally of confirmed infections to 107, health authorities said.

The news came along with word that still-unproven antiviral drug remdesivir would be offered to patients at three local hospitals beginning next week.

Speaking at a daily press briefing, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch at the Centre for Health Protection, said the first of the confirmed cases was a 56-year-old Hongkonger who had travelled to London and Paris for business from February 25 to March 4.

He went to a private hospital on Thursday night after developing a fever, headache and muscle pain and was then transferred to Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai.

The businessman, a Hong Kong resident of Indian descent, flew to London on February 25 and back to Hong Kong on Wednesday. While in Europe, he made a round-trip journey between London and Paris on March 1 and 3.