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Phila Siu

Ng Kang-chung

Hong Kong recorded three new imported coronavirus cases on Sunday, the first infections reported in three days and bringing the city’s total tally to 1,047.
However, Hong Kong has now gone 21 days in a row with no new local Covid-19 cases.
Two of the new cases involved men, aged 54 and 57, who returned to Hong Kong from Pakistan on Saturday. The other case was a 69-year-old woman who came back from Britain on Sunday.
All three were asymptomatic, the health authorities said.


The 57-year-old man had been in Pakistan, where he visited family and attended a funeral, since last August, the Centre for Health Protection was told. The 54-year-old had been in the country since March.
The woman had been in Britain since February, according to the centre. She complained of shortness of breath on April 8 and was visited at home by a medical team, which found her condition was very mild. She was not tested for Covid-19 and was told to rest at home. The symptom was gone the following day.
Coronavirus latest: European countries reopen as infections pass 4 million
The city last recorded new cases on Thursday, when four imported infections were reported.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the centre’s communicable disease branch, urged people not to lower their guard despite there having been no local cases for three weeks, echoing comments in a blog post by the health secretary earlier on Sunday.


Chuang said it was too early to talk about lifting all social-distancing restrictions and border controls.
“Although the situation in Hong Kong appears to be getting more stable, every day there are still many cases reported elsewhere around the world, say, the USA, Britain, Europe. We can’t keep ourself aloof,” she told a coronavirus press briefing.
“We hope to be able to relax the restrictions gradually, but there is always the risk that infections could shoot up again.”
Chuang also said there were no rigid, scientifically proven rules on which kinds of restrictions could be eased when local case numbers dropped to a specific level.
“We have never had such an epidemic before. So there have not been many scientific studies,” she said.
China reports 14 new infections, northeast city returns to partial lockdown
With the epidemic levelling off locally, some measures to prevent the spread of the virus were relaxed on Friday, including bars and pubs, gyms, cinemas, beauty salons and massage parlours being allowed to reopen, with certain restrictions.
These types of establishments were closed in phases since late March. Gyms and cinemas were among the six types of premises ordered to suspend operations since March 28. Bars and pubs were forced to halt business from April 3. Beauty and massage parlours had been closed since April 10.


However, nightclubs, saunas, party rooms and karaoke lounges must remain closed until further notice.
The government also permitted gatherings of up to eight people in public and in restaurants, double the number previously allowed.
Health authorities had previously said the deadly outbreak could only be considered under control if no new locally transmitted cases had been reported for at least one or two incubation periods, meaning 14 or 28 days.
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The Hospital Authority reported that as of Sunday, there were 59 confirmed Covid-19 patients still being treated in 13 public hospitals. One was in critical condition, another four were listed as serious and the rest were stable. A total of 982 patients have been discharged from hospital and there have been four deaths.
On whether warm weather could help slow transmission of the virus, Chuang said she was not sure about the theory, adding: “We observe that in some hot places, like Singapore, the number of cases is rather big.”
As of Sunday afternoon, there were more than 23,300 confirmed cases reported in Singapore, with 20 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.


In a blog post published on Mother’s Day, Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee, the secretary for food and health, said Hong Kong must not let its guard down as the Covid-19 situation remained serious in some countries.
“The situation [locally] has been improving since early April, with the number of new infections going down,” she wrote.
“But the number of new infections remains high in some countries and thus we must follow the latest developments closely. We need to suitably adjust and introduce preventive measures and must not lower our guard.”

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News

Hong Kong

Health & Environment


Latest cases involve two men who returned from Pakistan on Saturday and a woman who came back from Britain on Sunday
Despite ongoing improvement in city, health officials caution against lowering guard given volatility in other countries



Despite ongoing improvement in city, health officials caution against lowering guard given volatility in other countries.


Coronavirus pandemic: All stories