HK Covid cases top 10,000, one year into outbreak

Hong Kong’s tally of Covid-19 cases pushed through the 10,000 mark on Saturday, a year after the city recorded its first coronavirus case – a 39-year-old man from Wuhan, who arrived in the SAR on January 22 via high-speed rail and testing positive the following day.

The Centre for Health Protection recorded 81 new cases, putting the tally at 10,009. All but three of the newly-confirmed patients were infected locally, and nearly half of these had no known infection source.

The centre’s Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan said she still expected the number of cases to increase over the next few days, after the government ordered everyone in a restricted zone in Jordan to get tested.

“We are expecting the daily number of cases to get more and more in the coming few days because of the enhanced testing in the restricted area, and also there’s still quite significant transmission in the community,” Chuang said.

She called on members of the public to pay attention to their health even after testing negative for Covid-19, saying they should seek medical help if they develop mild symptoms.

When asked about the SAR’s year-long fight against the coronavirus, Chuang said it had been a difficult year for everybody.

“The one-year battle has not been easy, not just for Hong Kong, but the whole world too. We adopted a lot of unprecedented measures, everyone experienced unprecedented situations. No one would ever have expected flights to be halted and borders to be closed. We are all learning from experience,” Chuang said.

She also praised Hong Kong people for their efforts in fighting the virus.

“We wear masks and we’ve been adopting various anti-epidemic measures. We’re very self-disciplined,” she added.