Initial test shows Wuhan tourist in HK has new coronavirus

The Hong Kong government confirmed on Wednesday that an initial test shows that a male tourist from Wuhan has tested positive for the new coronavirus that is responsible for the outbreak of the pneumonia-like disease in the central Chinese city.

Further tests are needed to confirm whether the case is the city’s first case of the disease, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said. The test result will come out tomorrow.

The man was first sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon central cluster for the first checkup and then was transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital, site of the city’s sole infectious diseases center, for treatment and quarantine. The center admitted one-third of the city’s confirmed SARS patients in 2003.

According to the government, the 39-year-old man was found to have a fever at the West Kowloon checkpoint after disembarking from a high-speed train from Shenzhen on Tuesday evening. He was in Wuhan before coming to Hong Kong with family members.

Local media reported a similar infection late Wednesday, citing the case of a local resident whose preliminary test result also came positive for the virus.

The 56-year-old was reported to have exhibited symptoms of a fever since Saturday during his trip to Wuhan from Jan 10 to Sunday. The man is said to have been transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital from Prince of Wales Hospital for further examination.

The Hospital Authority said it had no knowledge of the case in response to inquiry by China Daily, while a phone call to the Centre for Health Protection went unanswered.

Meanwhile, the Macao government on Wednesday morning announced its first confirmed case of the Wuhan coronavirus.

Macao officials said a 52-year-old woman from Wuhan - the capital of Central China’s Hubei province - passed the infrared ray temperature check at port. She sought medical treatment for a sore throat after spending two days in a casino.