Children ride bikes in Hong Kong, March 23, 2020. (LO PING FAI/XINHUA)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s health authorities have clarified reports about restraining pediatric COVID-19 patients during hospitalization as the financial hub reported 10 new coronavirus infections on Thursday.

In a press release issued late Wednesday, a spokesman for the city’s Hospital Authority said a hospital would "only consider the application of physical restraints on pediatric patients for their safety and well-being," adding that prior consent would be sought from the parents or guardians.

The spokesman for the Hospital Authority said parents who tested negative for the virus would be given the option of staying in the same isolation room as their infected children, subject to the agreement of the Centre for Health Protection and the availability of isolation facilities

The spokesman added that parents who tested negative for the virus would be given the option of staying in the same isolation room as their infected children, subject to the agreement of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) and the availability of isolation facilities.

The hospital will explain the risk of contracting the infection to the parents and essential personal protective equipment will be provided, according to the release.

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“Due to infection control consideration, the parents will be required to undergo an additional quarantine period under CHP after the pediatric patients are discharged,” the spokesman added.

10 new infections

Six out of 10 new COVID-19 infections reported on Thursday were locally transmitted, pushing the city’s tally to 11,350, according to a separate release issued by the CHP.

Half of the local cases were untraceable. They were a 15-year-old student who developed symptoms and last went to school on Friday, a 35-year-old marketing manager who last visited her workplace on Monday, and a 36-year-old engineer who had not visited his workplace since March 8.

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According to the current testing rule, their residence — No. 142-144 Tai Nan Street in Sham Shui Po, Po Tak Mansion in Kennedy Town and Block F of Luk Yeung Sun Chuen in Tsuen Wan — will be subject to mandatory testing. 

The boy’s school, S.K.H. All Saints' Middle School in Mong Kok, will also be placed under compulsory testing.

Among the four imported cases, two were from the Philippines and one each from Pakistan and Indonesia, according to the release.