By Daisy CL Mandap
 |
| Dr Chui says nearly 1/4 of all coronavirus cases in HK had no symptoms |
Hong Kong health officials have underscored the need to get as many residents to get tested as possible, saying that nearly a quarter of all Covid-19 cases recorded so far did not have symptoms.
The figure was disclosed by Undersecretary for Food
and Health Chui Tak-yi today, Sept 10, as 12 new coronavirus cases were
reported, 7 of them imported, including a 29-year-old Filipina domestic helper
who had no symptoms.
Of the five locally transmitted infections, two were
found through the free mass testing that has been extended to Sept 14. The
total tally is now 4,903.
 |
| Call now! |
Chui said, “Among the 4,900 plus cases, about 23% were
uncovered…meaning the patient had no symptoms…about 1100 did not have symptoms
and were not aware that they were sick. Despite having no symptoms they are
still potential spreaders of the virus. That’s why early detection and
diagnosis is important for containing the disease.”
Thus, while the number of new infections has been
subsiding, he said there was still concern about the untraceable sources. About
30% of the cases in the third wave of infections were said to be asymptomatic,
indicating that there is still an invisible transmission going on in the community.
“If we can find the invisible carriers we can cut the
transmission chain sooner,” Chui said.
On the 10th day of the universal community testing,
he said a total of 1.7 million residents had completed the test, and about 1.33
million specimen samples had been tested.
| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Out of these, a total of 21 new cases were detected,
most of them without symptoms.
Since the mass tests have been extended further, he
said, “I appeal to everyone to make use of the time and join the program.”
 |
| Health officials say the mass testing is very important in keeping the virus under control |
He said it was very important to contain the virus so the number of cases would not revert to the more than 100 that were recorded daily in July, when the expected fourth wave of infections happen at the onset of winter.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health
Protection said that apart from the newly arrived Filipina domestic helper,
there were six other imported cases. Five were returnees from India, three of
them family members; and the other flew in from Iran via Qatar.
 |
| Pindutin para sa detalye! |
Three of the local cases were all family members of
previously infected persons, while two were of unknown source, and were caught through
the universal testing.
One of the untraceable cases was a 39-year-old woman
who works in a restaurant and was asymptomatic. She was found positive for the
virus yesterday after leaving a sample on Sept 7 at a testing centre.
On Sept 8 she took her five-year-old son to Queen
Elizabeth Hospital for an eye operation, and the boy tested negative for the
virus during a pre-surgery test. The boy was operated on yesterday at the Eye
Hospital.
 | |
|
After the mother’s test result came out, she was again
tested along with her son, and both returned a positive result. Subsequent antibody
tests on the mother and her son, as well as her husband, showed all had been
infected and have recovered.
The second positive case from the UCT was a
37-year-old woman who works as a waitress in Yuen Long and lives in Tin Shui
Wai. She had herself tested at the Heung Yee Kuk testing centre in Yuen Long
and was asymptomatic.
Dr Lau Ka-hin from the Hospital Authority reported
that no deaths were reported during the past 24 hours, so the death toll
remains at 98. A total of 4,582 patients have been discharged from public
hospitals, while 193 are still being treated in isolation.
Those who want to join the free voluntary mass testing may register online at www.communitytest.gov.hk
 |
| PADALA NA! |
