A sanitation worker disinfects turnstiles at Mong Kok East MTR station as health authorities announced on Feb 25, 2020, that a 33-year-old MTR employee working at the station had contracted COVID-19. (PHOTO / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG — Three more patients were confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus pneumonia, raising Hong Kong’s tally to 84, the Department of Health said on Tuesday.

Two of the three patients — a 55-year-old woman and her 24-year-old son — are linked to the Fook Wai Ching She Buddhist worship hall in North Point, health officials said at a daily briefing on the epidemic.

Nine of the 84 patients infected with the coronavirus have connections with the worship hall. Seven of the nine visited the site

The mother, who works in the kitchen of a KFC restaurant in North Point, visited the worship hall during Feb 3-8. She is also the sister of another infected patient who had visited the worship hall earlier. Her son doesn’t show any symptoms but tested positive for the disease.

Nine of the 84 patients infected with the coronavirus have connections with the worship hall. Seven of the nine visited the site.

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At the briefing, a Department of Health representative said two of the 33 environmental samples collected inside and near the worship hall tested positive for the pathogen.

She said further tests will be conducted to confirm whether the virus is still present and whether it is the same strain that the patients were infected with.

The 82nd patient to contract the virus is a 33-year-old man and the son of the city’s 72nd infected patient.

Also at the briefing, a representative of the Hospital Authority (HA) said that to ease the shortage of protective gear, the agency has collaborated with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to design and produce face shields using a 3D-printing technique. The daily production capacity is currently at 10,000 and is expected to triple by late March.

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The representative also said HA is committed to provide adequate accommodation to frontline medical workers. HA has set aside 300 rooms in public hospitals, and arranged for 100 rooms at four hotels for this purpose.

It is offering frontline health workers a subsidy of HK$500 (US$64) a day to help them pay for their accommodations.