Hong Kong Hospital Super-Spreader Cluster Turns Up 19 Cases

Nineteen people, including patients and medical workers, have tested positive for a novel coronavirus outbreak tied to Hong Kong’s first infection cluster at a public hospital, which a prominent local expert blamed on airborne transmission.

The “super-spreader” event connected to an 84-year-old patient at Kowloon’s United Christian Hospital comes as the city grapples with an upswing of infections since late November. On Sunday, the city reported 70 new Covid-19 cases.

On Dec. 15, the female patient began treatment at the hospital’s ICU due to potentially life-threatening complications arising from diabetes. 

She first tested negative for the novel coronavirus but was diagnosed with mild pneumonia following an examination of her lungs. Due to a shortage of internal medicine beds, on Dec. 18 she was transferred from the ICU to a palliative care ward. Three days later, she was sent to an internal medicine ward.

Then on Dec. 23, three confirmed Covid-19 cases were discovered at the hospital and contract tracing lead to a further eight patients and seven medical staff testing positive.

The cluster was traced back to the diabetes patient, who was found to have a high load of the virus. All the other patients who tested positive were either in the palliative care or internal medicine wards with her.

Yuen Kwok-yung, a Hong Kong government adviser and infectious disease expert at the University of Hong Kong, said he suspects that virus was airborne. He said that one of the medical staff, a nurse, may have been infected after washing the 84-year-old’s mouth without wearing protective goggles.

Patients in the palliative care ward are especially vulnerable to infection, Yuen said because many have difficulty breathing and are often unable to wear face masks.

He suggested that the hospital should place additional air purifiers in the affected areas to reduce the risk of further transmission, and that staff should wear goggles when treating unmasked patients.

United Christian Hospital has suspended visits to its wards and is neither accepting new patients nor transferring its patients elsewhere. Everyone who has visited the affected wards since Dec. 15 must submit to testing by Wednesday.

Other public hospitals in the special autonomous region have also tightened their rules, barring most visits and mandating mask-wearing, Lau Ka-hin, the Hospital Authority’s chief manager for quality and standards, said.

The city’s total number of confirmed cases hit 8,611 on Sunday. The death toll from the pandemic was 137. 

Contact editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)

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