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Monday, February 17, 2020, 08:57
HK reports one new case of coronavirus, one man discharged
By Li Bingcun
Monday, February 17, 2020, 08:57 By Li Bingcun

A 54-year-old resident of Taikoo Shing is confirmed infected with the novel coronavirus on Sunday. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Hong Kong confirmed a new case of novel coronavirus infection on Sunday, raising the tally to 57, the government said at its daily briefing on the epidemic.

The latest patient is a 54-year-old man living in the middle-class housing estate of Taikoo Shing. He had not left Hong Kong recently.

His wife also showed mild symptoms and was placed under medical observation.

The patient visited a local church before and after the onset. The authority is tracking his close contacts.

Meanwhile, the patient who was the 27th recorded case of the virus infection in the special administrative region was released from a hospital on Sunday.

He is the second patient in Hong Kong to have recovered from the disease, and the first confirmed case among the 11 infected people in a group that shared a hotpot dinner on Jan 26.

Before being discharged, the patient tested negative twice in tests 24 hours apart.

Also on Sunday, another 70 passengers on board the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, now docked in Yokohama, Japan, were confirmed to have been infected by the coronavirus. In total, 355 people on board have contracted the virus.

It’s still unknown whether any Hong Kong residents were among the new batch of infections. Earlier, the SAR government revealed that at least 11 out of the more than 300 Hong Kong passengers on board the vessel were confirmed to have been infected.

The Hong Kong government is arranging chartered flight to bring local residents on board back to the city free of charge, according to a statement on Saturday night. The plan is pending the approval of the Japanese government.

The passengers will be quarantined for 14 days upon their arrival in Hong Kong.

During the past weekend, some radicals vandalized public facilities to protest the government’s plan to use some local clinics for epidemic-control use.

Earlier, the government had selected 18 general outpatient clinics in the city’s overall 18 districts to admit suspected patients of coronavirus infection. It didn’t offer a timetable for launching the plan.

In a bid to derail the plan, some radical protesters damaged facilities of a selected clinic in Tai Po on Saturday. Another group of protesters threw debris onto the light-rail tracks at the Tin Shui Wai station and set fire to station facilities at the same day.

On Saturday night, the Hospital Authority strongly condemned the vandalism against clinics.

Meanwhile, two more infected patients in Macao were discharged on Sunday, bringing the total number of released patients in the gambling hub to five. Macao has recorded no confirmed case for 12 consecutive days on Sunday, maintaining the infection tally of 10.

The Macao government announced on Saturday that it will gradually resume basic services starting next week. The suspension of casinos, which is slated to end on Wednesday, will be subject to further review until then.

bingcun@chinadailyhk.com


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