People adhering to new social distancing measures gather in Victoria Park in Hong Kong on March 29, 2020. (ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong recorded on Saturday 17 new cases of novel coronavirus pneumonia, bringing the tally to 862.  

Among the new patients, 10 had a travel history during the incubation period while seven contracted the disease in the city.

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Despite the sharp decrease in the number of confirmed cases from that of the previous days, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Communicable Disease Branch of the Centre for Health Protection, said it should not be concluded that the pandemic trend has changed. 

Health authorities are investigating the death of a 20-year-old woman who had just completed the 14-day mandatory home quarantine on her return to Hong Kong from Denmark on March 19

The city’s 856th case involved a 93-year-old man who was admitted to Pok Oi Hospital on March 10 for stroke and was discharged on April 2. He was admitted again on April 3 after developing a fever and was later confirmed to have been infected by the coronavirus.

Authorities are now investigating the source of his infection. The ward where he stayed when he was admitted the first time is now closed while other patients and medical workers who had been to the ward would be tested for the disease.

According to Chuang, the elderly man stayed briefly in a ward with the 455th patient, who returned to Hong Kong from Europe but was tested negative to the virus at that time. 

Another new case reported on Saturday involved a police officer based in the West Kowloon district with no travel history. He had worked in the different team with the infected officer of the same region – the city’s 633rd patient. 

Chuang said police has not told the health authorities if the officer had participated in crowd management operation on March 31 in Mong Kok. 

So far four police officers have contracted the disease. 

Meanwhile, the city reported on Saturday the death of a 20-year-old woman who had just completed the 14-day mandatory home quarantine on her return to Hong Kong from Denmark on March 19. During quarantine, she developed a fever but had not reported it to the Department of Health. 

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Chuang said the woman went to see a traditional Chinese doctor on completion of her quarantine. She was taken to Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital Saturday morning after having breathing problem but died on the way.  

Her throat specimens were negative to virus while her cause of death is under investigation.