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| Face masks can protect us from carriers who don't show symptoms, say health experts |
A Hong Kong woman who resides in the United States
Fine weather and the absence of new local Covid cases for
the past two weeks has encouraged many residents, including migrant workers, to
go out on their day off to eat and mingle with friends, or do outdoor
activities such as swimming or hiking.
By noon Monday, Hong Kong
hospitals had released 21 more patients, leaving only 136 still confined. Only
one patient remains in critical condition while 7 are serious.
While experts are suggesting that the government should ease
some of its social distancing measures now that the picture has improved, health
officials say they are not yet 100% sure whether the local infection chain has
been broken.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection
said during today’s press conference that people should continue to wear masks
because some patients are asymptomatic or have minor infection. These patients
can still cause a local outbreak, she said.
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| Chuang and Lau set good example by wearing masks during the daily press briefings |
“We have now one incubation period left and we now have some
comfort that the situation is improving. But I don’t think we are 100%
confident we will have another local infection case before we can confirm
whether the local infection chain is broken,” she said.
She noted that over the past few days, people had been
letting down their guard and going out to beaches and other places.
Chuang warned the public that the risk on public transports
is high because they are crowded and some people would remove their masks. She
advised the people to wash their hands after taking public transports for their
safety.
Some experts are now talking about relaxing restrictions and
prohibitions on public gatherings after Hong Kong
had gone through more than one incubation period with no local cases, Chuang
said.
“I understand the government is studying the issues to see,
given the current situation, what are the more balanced measures to take. On
the one hand, we want to control the outbreak and, on the other, we want to
relax the restrictions imposed on the public,” Chuang said.
On today’s case, Chuang said the 27-year-old patient was
sent to Tuen Mun Hospital for treatment after her deep throat saliva specimen was
tested positive for the virus at the AsiaWorld Exhibition testing site.
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“This is a relatively simple imported case,” said Chuang.
She said the patient started showing symptoms on Apr 11 such
as loss of smell, sore throat and blocked nose while still in the US
For the past 24 hours until noon Monday, 15 suspected cases
were reported and 151 patients were in isolation, Dr Lau Ka-hin from the
Hospital Authority said.
Lau said 21 of these cases were confirmed to have recovered
and discharged but were readmitted after showing symptoms again.
