Hong Kong confirms 65 new coronavirus cases, highest single-day toll

In the view of coronavirus infection, public gatherings will be limited to four people and a range of establishments shut in Hong Kong under tough new laws the government unveiled to combat a resurgence of the coronavirus outbreak in the city, which saw its biggest single-day jump in infections on March 27. Hong Kong recorded a daily high of 65 additional new coronavirus patients on Friday, bringing the tally to 518.

Calling the situation a “public emergency”, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-Ngor said that the sweeping restrictions on socializing would be made through amending the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance. Nineteen of the newly-diagnosed cases are linked to a cluster involving nightlife spots in the city. Ten employees and musicians who played in bars are infected, as well as nine customers. Forty-one of the new cases involve people who had recently returned from overseas.

Health officials said the patients range in age from 12 to 71 years. Fourteen of them are students who have just returned. Dr. Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre For Health Protection said some of the patients have reported a loss of sense of smell and taste, as several others had done before them. Chuang said that more studies are needed, however, to ascertain whether this should be regarded as a symptom of the new coronavirus infections.

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Officials also revealed that two members of staff at the Caritas Medical Centre have been placed in quarantine after they took blood from a patient who was subsequently confirmed to have the infection. The patient had not been wearing a face mask when the blood was drawn. A total of 338 people with the virus are in hospital, Four are critical. Four have died since the outbreak began in Wuhan last year before spreading rapidly across the world.

Ban on entry of non-residents

Hong Kong reportedly announced that it will ban the non-residents, including tourists, from entering the country for at least 14 days, effective as of March 25 following a spike in new coronavirus cases fuelled largely the foreign nationals. Mainland China, Taiwan, and Macau are among the high-risk countries whose citizens Hong-Kong instructed to withhold when entering via travel to other countries. Entering directly from mainland, Taiwan and Macau citizens might be considered, Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced at a news conference. 

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