A group of girls sit on a bench in a Tsim Sha Tsui department store. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong reported 10 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday as a nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital tested preliminary positive for the coronavirus, health officials said.

In a media briefing on Thursday afternoon, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) Communicable Disease Branch, said the 10 new cases included nine imported cases and a local case with unknown origin. The city’s tally of confirmed cases stood at 5,097.

In a media briefing on Thursday afternoon, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) Communicable Disease Branch, said the 10 new cases included nine imported cases and a local case with unknown origin. The city’s tally of confirmed cases stood at 5,097

Chuang said the imported cases included five persons from the United Kingdom, two domestic helpers from the Philippines, and one patient each from Dubai and France.

Chuang said the local case involved a traveler from Thailand who was stranded in Hong Kong after she arrived here on March 16. 

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She stayed in different hotels and guesthouses in Tsim Sha Tsui and Kwun Tong and had herself tested recently so that she could go back to Thailand. The results were positive.   

“During the incubation period, she moved among several hotels. She would also go shopping and eating in Tsim Sha Tsui. We have not identified the source of infection,” Chuang said.

She said the CHP was tracking down the patient’s close contacts and will liaise with Thai authorities because she had two friends with her who had already gone back to Thailand.

Meanwhile, Hospital Authority chief manager Linda Yu said a nurse at Queen Elizabeth Hospital was being treated in isolation at the hospital after he tested preliminary positive. His six fellow staff members who shared meals with him will go into quarantine for 14 days. 

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She said the nurse was responsible for general clinical services in a particular ward and wore suitable personal protective equipment while he was on duty. 

Lu said he also did not have any contact with COVID-19 patients at the hospital or close contact with the patients in his ward.

“The patients tested negative. So far, there’s no evidence to show that this staff member was infected at the hospital. But to play it safe, the ward will not take new patients for now,” Lu said.

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She added that the staff members and patients at the ward will again be tested for COVID-19 while the ward will be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. 

Lu also said that there were 118 COVID-19 patients in 18 Hong Kong hospitals as of Thursday. She added that 10 patients were in critical condition, eight in serious condition, while the rest were stable.The number of deaths caused by COVID-19 in Hong Kong stood at 105.

With inputs from Xinhua