People wearing face masks walk on a footbridge during the evening rush hour in Hong Kong on March 4, 2020. (VIVEK PRAKASH / AFP)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong on Friday confirmed two new coronavirus infections, with one of them having close contact with a patient of an imported case from India. 

As of Friday, the city’s infection tally rose to 106, with one man preliminarily being tested positive.

An 85-year-old Hong Kong resident, one of the 20 people who joined the India tour with the female patient, was confirmed after the government approached him as one of the close contacts. Apart from driving his wife to see a doctor, the patient stayed at home for most of the time after returning to Hong Kong on Feb 24. He went to Cheung Chau island alone on March 4.

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On Wednesday, a 69-year-old woman was confirmed to have contracted the disease after visiting India between Jan 31 and Feb 24. Her husband was preliminarily tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Among the 20 people joining the India trip with the patient, eight have left Hong Kong, with seven of them in Canada. The government has been unable to contact four out of the remaining 12 people.

The government, though haven’t receive confirmation from the Canadian authority, believed that an 80-year-old woman, one of the seven people having returned to Canada, was tested positive for the virus. She flew back to Canada on flight CX838 on Feb 29.

One of the latest patients is a 56-year-old businessman of India origin, who traveled to London and Paris between Feb 25 and March 4

Another infection involved a 56-year-old businessman of India origin, who lives in Po Shan Road on the western Mid-levels. He traveled to London and Paris between Feb 25 and March 4, before flying back on flight BA27.

In addition, the government confirmed that one confirmed patient in Thailand had visited a relative in Hong Kong. The 43-year-old patient, who flew first class on flight CX250 on Feb 29 and flew back to Thailand on the same day on CX617, developed onset symptoms on March 2.

To identify infections early, the Hospital Authority has extended the Enhanced Laboratory Surveillance Program to emergency wards and outpatient clinics. So far, the program have successfully identified 38 infected patients out of thousands of samples of patients with suspicious symptoms at clinics and accident and emergency departments of public hospitals and clinics.

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The authority will further expand the plan to private clinics as soon as possible, said Under Secretary for Food and Health, Chui Tak-yi.