14 patients, 1 member of staff at Hong Kong’s Ruttonjee Hospital infected with Covid-19
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s Ruttonjee Hospital has reported a cluster of Covid-19 cases involving 14 patients and one staff member. All are in stable condition.
The public hospital in Wan Chai announced on Thursday that 12 male and two female patients in its geriatric infirmary ward had developed a fever and tested positive for Covid-19 since last Thursday. The patients, aged between 33 and 88, were put under isolation and are currently in a stable condition.
A staff member who worked on the ward also was confirmed to have been infected with Covid-19, after they began to have fever and cough last Sunday. Their condition was stable, a spokesperson said.
The hospital suspended admission to the ward and imposed restrictions on visitations. Cleaning and disinfection measures were conducted, and infection control measures were stepped up in accordance with established guidelines, a spokesperson said.
“The hospital will continue to closely monitor the situation of the patients. The cases have been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office and the Centre for Health Protection for follow-up,” an English statement from Ruttonjee Hospital read.
Hong Kong first reported cases of Covid-19 in late January 2020. The epidemic later hit in several waves of infection, with the city’s death rate soaring to the highest in the developed world in March 2022. Most social distancing measures were lifted in December 2022, while the mask ban was scrapped in March 2023.
The city has reported sporadic clusters of Covid-19 cases in its public hospitals since last April. In late November 2023, 14 patients at Kowloon Hospital’s psychiatric ward tested positive with the virus. Seven more patients from the ward were reported to be infected by Covid-19 in early December.
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