HK experts probe current strain as more show severe symptoms

Visitors receive PCR tests for Covid-19 at a Community Testing Centre in Hong Kong on Dec 12, 2020. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

HONG KONG • More Covid-19 patients in Hong Kong are displaying severe symptoms during this fourth wave of infections, prompting medical experts to investigate if the current virus strain is a more virulent one.

An analysis of official data by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) revealed that as at Dec 6, those aged 30 to 69 accounted for more than 60 per cent of the seriously or critically ill patients in hospital, the high point so far for such cases.

It said the number of active severe cases in that age group gradually increased from five around the beginning of the fourth wave, to a high of 62 on Dec 12, accounting for 56 per cent of the 110 seriously ill patients in public hospitals at that time.

The current fourth wave has also seen a quicker rise in overall infections compared with past outbreaks, Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, a respiratory medicine expert from Chinese University of Hong Kong, told SCMP.

Public concern has intensified after a 42-year-old woman without any underlying conditions died earlier this month, eliciting a warning from the health authorities that younger patients could be more susceptible to complications from the coronavirus than previously thought.

Meanwhile, the authorities are searching for a Covid-19-positive patient who escaped from one of the city's largest hospitals while undergoing treatment, according to health officials.

The 63-year-old man was admitted to the isolation ward of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Dec 14 after it was confirmed he had Covid-19, reported Reuters. But the man escaped from the ward via a stairwell on Friday.

A hospital statement said the patient was wearing a jacket over hospital clothes, and that staff who spotted him failed to nab him despite a chase.

Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection reported 109 new cases of Covid-19 yesterday, taking its total tally to 8,078, reported news agency Xinhua. The death tally stands at 129.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on December 20, 2020, with the headline HK experts probe current strain as more show severe symptoms. Subscribe