Hong Kong fourth wave: police hunt for Covid-19 patient continues as hospital security lapses leave officials red-faced
- Patient, identified as Li Wan-keung, 63, had previously been uncooperative and earlier attempted to leave the isolation ward at Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- Number of confirmed coronavirus infections across the city surges to 109
On a day that the number of confirmed coronavirus infections across the city surged to 109, officials admitted the patient, identified as 63-year-old Li Wan-keung, had been previously uncooperative and attempted to leave his isolation ward at Queen Elizabeth Hospital just the day before.
The Hospital Authority said it would look into enhancing security measures, given that no guard was posted outside the ward which had CCTV cameras without a recording function, while police released a photo of the runaway patient in the hope that members of the public could help catch him.
Li was said to be about 1.6 metres tall, of medium build and with short black hair. He was last seen wearing a patient’s gown, a dark blue coat, sports shoes and a surgical mask.
He was a close contact of another Covid-19 case, and was admitted to the isolation ward on Monday after being confirmed positive two days earlier. He lived on Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok.
Dr Linda Yu, a chief manager at the authority, said Li had taken some convincing from medical staff before cooperating with treatments and tests, but his condition was stable and he did not show abnormal behaviour before he fled.