Queen Elizabeth Hospital reported virus cluster Prof Yuen Kwok-yung: chance of airborne transmission was low
Queen Elizabeth Hospital reported a cluster of Covid-19 infections involving three patients from the same cubicle on Tuesday.
A 64-year-old female cancer patient from the hospital was the latest confirmed case on Tuesday night after two female patients, a 92-year-old woman and a 77-year-old woman, who shared the same general ward with her, were confirmed to have had coronavirus consecutively since Monday.
Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, a top infectious disease expert from HKU, said the chance of airborne transmission inside the ward was low. He believed it was likely to be caused by the contaminated surroundings by the first infected patient. The 92-year-old woman with heart disease showed no typical coronavirus symptoms when she was admitted to the general ward on Sunday morning through the hospital’s Accident & Emergency Department.
“That patient sometimes pulled down her mask when breathing or coughing, as her breathing was not smooth. This action could contaminate the surrounding environment, such as bedside, bed rail and bed table, with the virus,” Yuen said.
He added that all other patients and staff tested in the same ward showed negative results.
