Coronavirus: two new infections end Hong Kong’s five-day streak of no cases amid warning that local contagion threat remains
- Health expert says it is too early to declare the coronavirus crisis is under control after city confirms two cases from repatriation flight
- Hundreds returned from Pakistan on Thursday, with thousands more still stranded there, and in India
Hong Kong’s five-day streak of zero coronavirus infections ended on Friday when two arrivals from Pakistan tested positive, leading health experts to warn that more imported cases were expected and local contagion remained a threat.
As its infected total increased to 1,039, officials said Hong Kong must wait at least two more weeks without recording any new local cases before declaring the community spread under control.
One of the returnees confirmed as infected was a 34-year-old man living in Pakistan with his parents, while the other was a 16-year-old female student from Hong Kong who travelled to the South Asian country to visit family on March 3.
With no new local infections recorded since April 22, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable diseases branch, pleaded with the public to remain both vigilant and patient.
“It is expected that there will be more imported cases in Hong Kong, and we hope the virus will not be transmitted to the community,” she told a press briefing.
