Coronavirus: ahead of predicted second wave, Hong Kong professor calls for genomic sequencing of every Covid-19 case so far
- A fresh wave of infections, one that will arrive before a vaccine does, is ‘almost certain’, HKU medical school dean Gabriel Leung says
- Examining patients’ virus samples ‘not a matter of money, but determination’, he insists, while again calling for ‘massive testing’ of population
Hong Kong should conduct genomic sequencing for every Covid-19 patient to date to trace all possible sources of infection ahead of a new coronavirus wave that could attack the city as early as autumn, a top epidemiologist has proposed.
Professor Gabriel Leung, dean of the University of Hong Kong’s medical school and one of the experts advising the government on the disease, also warned the next wave of infections could be even more serious, citing the devastating 1918 influenza pandemic as an example.
“It is almost certain to say a second wave of epidemic will come, as we won’t see a supply of vaccine before [then],” Leung said in an online seminar for journalists on Thursday. “After mid or late autumn will be another critical stage.”
His comments came as the city recorded no new Covid-19 cases on Thursday. But a medical source said later in the evening that a woman, the sister-in-law of the first reported case in a local cluster, tested preliminary positive for the virus during her quarantine and was sent to hospital.
The cluster now involves eight people living in Luk Chuen House at Lek Yuen Estate in Sha Tin, two colleagues of the first reported case there – a 34-year-old woman – and a paramedic who sent the patient to hospital.
The total number of officially confirmed cases in the city remained at 1,107, with four related deaths.