The Centre for Health Protection is investigating six additional cases of novel coronavirus infection, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 42.

Two of the additional cases are the close contacts of the male patient of the 27th case announced on February 9. They are his 55-year-old aunt and 52-year-old uncle.

The two patients have had good past health and did not travel during the incubation period. On January 26, they both attended the same gathering as the patients of the nine confirmed cases from the same family cluster announced on February 9.

The 55-year-old women lives in Tai Wo House, Wo Che Estate in Sha Tin. She developed fever, cough and runny nose on January 30 and consulted a private doctor on the same day. She was admitted to the Prince of Wales Hospital on February 9 and is now in a stable condition.

Her husband is asymptomatic and is under quarantine, while her son has developed symptoms and has been admitted to Prince of Wales Hospital for isolation and treatment.

The 52-year-old man belongs to the same family cluster. He is the husband of a 51-year-old female patient and the father of a 25-year-old female patient and a 22-year-old male patient who were all confirmed to be infected with the virus on February 9.

He lives in Lai Chi Building, 42-56 Leighton Road in Wan Chai. He developed a cough, sore throat and dry mouth on February 8 and was admitted to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital on February 9. He is in a stable condition.

The other three cases belong to another family cluster. The index case is a 69-year-old man with underlying illnesses who resides in Cheung Hing Building, 110 Sai Wan Ho Street.

He developed a cough on January 30 and consulted a private doctor on February 7. He attended Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital on February 9 due to shortness of breath and was admitted for isolation and management. He is in critical condition.

The centre has traced and confirmed two more cases of novel coronavirus infection yesterday, including the man’s 63-year-old wife and 86-year-old mother-in-law. All of them live together.

His wife has underlying illnesses while his mother-in-law has had good past health. They started coughing since January 30 and January 28 and were transferred to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital for isolation and management on February 10. They are in stable condition.

The 69-year-old man did not travel during the incubation period and mainly stayed at home. His wife had been to Sai Wan Ho General Out-patient Clinic on January 31. His sister-in-law had visited their home for lunch on January 31, but has been asymptomatic so far. Quarantine will be arranged.

The sixth additional case involves a 62-year-old woman residing in the same building as the patient of the 12th case - Hong Mei House, Cheung Hong Estate in Tsing Yi.

She developed a cough since February 3 and consulted a private doctor on February 3, 5 and 7 and sought treatment at Princess Margaret Hospital on February 9. She is in stable condition.

The patient visited Macau from January 18 to 19. Her son and daughter-in-law, who live with her, have presented with symptoms and will be sent to Princess Margaret Hospital, and quarantine will be arranged for her husband and grandson who also live with her and are asymptomatic.

The centre is conducting investigations at the 07 units of Hong Mei House to identify if there are undiagnosed cases to stop the potential risk of the virus’ further spread.

Symptomatic residents were hospitalised for isolation, while asymptomatic residents were issued quarantine orders and transferred to quarantine centres.

A multi-disciplinary response team has also been activated to investigate and examine if environmental factors were involved in the infection of the two cases in those units.

The Food & Environmental Hygiene Department and the Housing Department will conduct thorough cleaning and disinfection for the building. At the same time, the Department of Health will provide residents with guidelines on professional cleaning and disinfection.

The centre will update reported novel coronavirus infection cases on its dedicated webpage.