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| Lake Silver in Ma On Shan, where the Filipina shared a flat with HK's 4th and 5th known coronavirus cases |
A
Filipina domestic worker in Ma On Shan was put under quarantine yesterday, Jan.
25, after two of her employer’s house guests tested positive for the Wuhan
coronavirus, the fourth and fifth such confirmed cases in Hong Kong.
The
information was confirmed today, Jan 26, by Consul General Raly Tejada, who
said the Filipina was healthy and showed no signs of infection.
“However,
she was contact traced to her employer’s two guests in Ma On Shan who were
tested positive,” said CG Tejada. “Given Hong Kong’s strict protocols and
heightened emergency alert, even healthy individuals maybe subjected to
quarantine procedures if there is proof of contact.”
He
assured that the Consulate is in close contact with the HK Department of Health
and will extend assistance to the worker if necessary.
“We
are hoping she remains healthy and eventually released,” he said.
He added the Consulate is ready to help any Filipino needing assistance.
He added the Consulate is ready to help any Filipino needing assistance.
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It
is not clear how long the Filipina would be quarantined. It is the first
reported case of a Filipino being affected by the rapidly spreading novel
coronavirus, which was first traced to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the
capital of Hubei province.
Chief
Executive Carrie Lam yesterday raised the highest emergency level for Hong
Kong, saying the situation had reached a “critical point,” two days after Hong
Kong’s first two confirmed cases.
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| It's mask season in HK again as the CE raises emergency alert level |
She
also confirmed reports schools across the city would reopen on Feb. 17, two
weeks later than was previously announced.
The
annual Hong Kong marathon, scheduled for Feb 5 and 6, has also been scrapped,
to prevent large numbers of people congregating. All public celebrations of the
Lunar New Year have also been shelved for the same reasons.
And
today, Ocean Park and Hong Kong Disneyland announced they would close
indefinitely in response to the heightened response to the contagion.
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| Ocean Park and HK Disneyland have closed down as part of emergency measures |
The
Hospital Authority also ordered the suspension of all general visiting
arrangements, volunteer services and clinical attachment programs at public
hospitals.
However,
Mrs Lam rejected calls for the border with the mainland to be closed, saying
such a move would be “inappropriate and impractical.”
The
heightened alert in Hong Kong echoes steps taken by most major cities across
China, including Beijing and Shanghai, as the rate of contamination continued
to mount.
As
of this morning, more than 2,000 people have tested positive for the virus
nationwide, with at least 56 confirmed deaths.
Wuhan
and most other cities in Hubei have been locked down to contain the spread of
the virus, trapping millions of people inside the affected area.
In
response, several countries, including the United States, France and Russia
have begun taking steps to evacuate their trapped nationals from Wuhan, where
medical supplies are reported to be running low, while thousands of people
swarm hospitals for check-ups and treatments.
There
are more than 11 million people in Wuhan, and 58.5 million in the entire Hubei
province.
In
other parts of the world, the number of confirmed cases mounts by the day,
although all have been traced back to Wuhan so far.
Reports
indicate some patients did not show the usual symptoms, including a
two-year-old boy in Shenzhen who had no fever, cough or sore throat, but tests
showed he had pneumonia and was positive
for the coronavirus.
The
latest to report a confirmed case was Canada, which described the patient as a
man in his 50s who recently flew from Wuhan to Guangzhou, then on to Toronto on
Jan. 23.
Singapore
and Malaysia confirmed four cases each Saturday, and Japan, its third. France
reported three cases Friday, the first in Europe; and the US reported a second
case, that of a woman who had returned to Chicago from China.
Hong
Kong also confirmed its latest three cases Saturday, after reporting the first
two on Friday.
The
latest cases involved the 62-year-old woman and her 63-year-old husband in Ma On
Shan, who had been in Wuhan within two weeks before getting sick. They were
taken to Prince of Wales Hospital in Shatin where they are still being treated.
They
stayed in a flat in Lake Silver in Ma On Shan with their daughter and the
Filipina helper. Their daughter was also taken to hospital with fever, while the
Filipina who was quarantined did not show any symptoms.
Earlier
on the same day, another 62-year-old woman tested positive at Tuen Mun
Hospital. She arrived in Hong Kong on Jan. 19 from Shenzhen North Station, and
developed a fever and cough the next day. She had been to a wet market and
visited a relative in a hospital in Wuhan who was admitted with cough.
Her
husband, daughter and son-in-law with whom she stayed in a flat in South
Hillcrest in Tuen Mun have been quarantined although they were all asymptomatic.
The
first confirmed case in Hong Kong was a 39-year-old mainland tourist who had
taken the high speed train from Wuhan to Shenzhen, and then on to Hong Kong on
Thursday, Jan 23. He was found with fever at the West Kowloon station.
His
four family members went on to spend the night at the Empire Hotel in Tsim Sha
Tsui, then flew out the next morning to Manila aboard Cebu Pacific 5J111.
Philippine health authorities said they were not tested for the virus as they
did not have fever on arrival.
The
second confirmed case is a 56-year-old Hong Kong resident who had visited
Wuhan. He submitted himself for tests at the Prince of Wales Hospital after
experiencing a slight fever.
Hong
Kong health authorities said three people who had been in close contact with
the two had been placed in hospital quarantine. Another five people had been
put in quarantine at one of two holiday camps set for the purpose: Lady
MacLehose Holiday Village in Sai Kung, and Lei Yue Mun Park.
