Hong Kong finance chief Paul Chan denies ‘special treatment’ after attending banking summit despite testing positive for Covid-19

Hong Kong’s finance minister Paul Chan Mo-po has denied receiving “special treatment” after attending a high-level summit despite testing positive for Covid-19 with a low viral load through PCR screening upon returning from a work trip to the Middle East.

Health officials on Thursday also defended the arrangements, saying the practice of exempting asymptomatic patients with a low viral load from having to isolate had applied to all inbound travellers since mandatory hotel quarantine was lifted in late September.

“When we are looking at the cases, we have to consider the whole situation,” said Centre for Health Protection (CHP) controller Dr Edwin Tsui Lok-kin, while refusing to comment on individual cases.

But authorities did not offer a specific range for the CT value, an indicator of a patient’s viral load, to determine whether the individual had indeed recovered from an infection. The higher the figure, the lower the viral load, meaning the individual is less contagious.

“For people who have never been infected before, we are more worried. But for those who have been infected, we can see that their CT value follows an [upwards] trend, but the speed [at which it increases] is different for each person,” Tsui said.

He added that for those who tested positive upon arrival in the city, authorities would look at information such as the test result, the date of infection and possible recovery, and symptoms to determine whether the person was re-positive, recovered or freshly infected.

Chan attended a three-day Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit despite testing positive last Thursday during a work trip to the Middle East, sparking questions over whether he was treated differently from other inbound travellers who were infected.