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Monday, February 10, 2020, 18:31
HK govt advises against family gatherings
By Willa Wu
Monday, February 10, 2020, 18:31 By Willa Wu

Chuang Shuk-kwan (left), head of the Communicable Disease Branch of the Centre for Health Protection, and Lau Ka-hin, director of the Hospital Authority, attend a daily news conference on Feb 9, 2020. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The government appealed to the public to avoid family gatherings, after nine Hong Kong residents confirmed to have been infected by the novel coronavirus were linked to a family reunion of 19 people. 

The city recorded 10 more infection cases on Sunday, bringing the total number to 36. All but one confirmed patient, a 70-year-old man with chronic disease, were members of a family that had a hotpot and barbecue meal during the Lunar New Year holiday. 

The coronavirus will hit Hong Kong’s economy in 2020, particularly the retail sector, a major employer, harder than the SARS epidemic did in 2003

Paul Chan Mo-po

financial secretary

According to Chuang Shuk-kwan, the head of the Communicable Disease Branch of the Centre for Health Protection, 19 members of the family, including a 24-yearold and his nonagenarian grandmother, gathered on Jan 26 at the Lento Party Room in Kwun Tong, which announced it would close for checks in light of the infections. 

Nine other family members have shown pneumonic symptoms, including coughing and having a fever. Of them, seven have tested positive for the coronavirus, while the other two were waiting for their test results. 

ALSO READ: Coronavirus: All of quarantined cruise crew test negative

Two family members who live on the mainland had been at the gathering, and both returned to the mainland on Jan 28 and 29 after they arrived in the city on Jan 24. One of them shows no infection in lung scans, and the other is awaiting test results. 

The remaining six people of the family with no pneumonic symptoms have been put under quarantine. 

The source of infection was unknown, as the confirmed cases of the 24-year-old and his grandmother, as well as the 70-year-old with pre-existing disease, had no recent travel history, Chuang said at a daily news conference. 

She suggested that the current practices to curb the spread of the virus within Hong Kong — including isolating those who are suspected of being infected, as well as the close contacts of those confirmed to have the disease — might not be enough to achieve the goal. 

Therefore, she called on the public to shorten the time for, or even cut down on, family gatherings while asking those who have symptoms of the upper respiratory infection to seek doctors’ advise and try not to go out unless it is to a clinic or hospital. 

READ MORE: Microbiologist says priority is to sever transmission chain

Also at the news conference, Hospital Authority Director Lau Ka-hin announced that the authority will make a major adjustment to its non-urgent and non-necessary services in the coming four weeks in an effort to curb cross-infection in hospitals. 

The coronavirus has infected over 37,000 people on the mainland and dealt a heavy blow to the economy. 

In his weekly Sunday blog, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po projected that the coronavirus will hit Hong Kong’s economy in 2020, particularly the retail sector, a major employer, harder than the SARS epidemic did in 2003. 

READ MORE: 'Hong Kong economic outlook worse than SARS-hit 2003'

Chan also warned about a rise in the unemployment rate from the latest recorded 3.3 percent, as an increasing number of small and medium-sized businesses in the most-affected economic sectors are downsizing to save costs. 

Chan said he is working on adjusting the budget, which will be delivered in late February, to better help the affected industries cope with the worsening situation.

willa@chinadailyhk.com 

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