7 COVID-19 cases identified

June 1, 2021

Centre for Health Protection Communicable Disease Branch Head Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan:

We had some confirmed cases in the past that were tested positive by private laboratories and confirmed by our Public Health Laboratory Services Branch.

Sometimes after they were admitted to hospitals under the Hospital Authority, (results of) repeated specimen (tests might be) negative and sometimes they also tested negative for the antibodies.

For the police officer confirmed (COVID-19 positive) today, we have tried to trace all the possible clues (to see) whether there are other explanations for the case’s (source of infection).

There is no evidence so far of contamination or (any) other explanation as found in the previous cases. So we have to treat this as a local unlinked case at the moment.

Of course, we cannot exclude any other possibilities. Some tests are still being carried out, for example, genetic sequencing etc that may also shed light on the source of infection for this case.

(To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating seven additional COVID-19 cases, one of which is locally transmitted with an unknown source of infection.

The local case involves a 35-year-old male police officer. He works at Wan Chai Police District Headquarters and Wan Chai Police Division and mainly performs patrol duties. He developed a sore throat and cough on May 28 and went to a privately-run medical centre the next day.

His deep throat saliva sample collected on May 30 tested positive for the virus and the case was classified as preliminary positive as announced earlier. The officer was then confirmed to be infected with the virus following verification by the Department of Health’s Public Health Laboratory Services Branch.

The centre's Communicable Disease Branch Head Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan explained at a press briefing this afternoon that while the officer tested negative during his stay at the hospital, there was no evidence the case involves contaminated specimen, which had happened before to other confirmed COVID-19 patients.

“We had some confirmed cases in the past that were tested positive by private laboratories and confirmed by our Public Health Laboratory Services Branch.

“Sometimes after they were admitted to hospitals under the Hospital Authority, results of repeated specimen tests might be negative and sometimes they also tested negative for the antibodies.”

Dr Chuang emphasised that the centre has tried to trace all possible clues to see whether there are other explanations for the case’s source of infection.

“There is no evidence so far of contamination or any other explanation as found in the previous cases. So we have to treat this as a local unlinked case at the moment.”

A total of 16 cases were reported in Hong Kong in the past 14 days, all of which are imported.

Meanwhile, six schools are now covered in the compulsory testing notice due to outbreaks of upper respiratory tract infection or influenza-like illness.

For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Government's dedicated webpage.