Confirmed new coronavirus infection cases in Hong Kong rises to 12
Xinhua
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HONG KONG, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The total number of novel coronavirus infection cases confirmed in Hong Kong has risen to 12, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government's Department of Health (DH) announced in a press release on Friday.

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File photo: CGTN

The DH's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) is investigating two additional cases of novel coronavirus infection.

The first additional case involves a 37-year-old woman residing in Yau Ma Tei area who is the daughter of a couple previously confirmed as Hong Kong's ninth and tenth novel coronavirus infection cases.

She developed cough on Tuesday and was sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Thursday. She has been admitted to the hospital for isolation and management, and is in a stable condition. Her respiratory sample was tested positive for novel coronavirus.

According to the information the patient provided, she stayed at W Hong Kong hotel with her parents from Jan. 22 to 28 and then visited The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong and Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong along with her parents. She returned home after accompanying her parents to Queen Mary Hospital on Tuesday. Preliminary investigations revealed that she neither visited any wet market or seafood market, nor had any exposure to wild animals or poultry during the incubation period.

The second case involves a 75-year-old man residing in Tsing Yi area. He developed cough and shortness of breath on Jan. 22 and sought treatment at Princess Margaret Hospital on Jan. 24. His respiratory sample was tested positive for novel coronavirus on Thursday under enhanced laboratory surveillance. He is now in a stable condition and being treated in isolation at Princess Margaret Hospital.

According to the patient's information, he visited Shunde in Guangdong Province from Dec. 30 to Jan. 7 and sought treatment at a clinic there. He took day trips to Macao from Jan. 10 to 14. His wife, daughter and son are asymptomatic and will be transferred to Lady MacLehose Holiday Village for quarantine.

The CHP is continuing its epidemiological investigations and relevant contact tracing. It is also closely monitoring a number of overseas cases and conducting related contact tracing.

The CHP has set up a hotline to answer public enquiries and collect contact tracing information concerning the cases. As of 4 p.m. Thursday, a total of 1,663 calls were received. 

Chinese health authorities announced Friday that 9,692 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps by the end of Thursday. A total of 213 people have died of the disease.

China is confident in and capable of effectively containing the novel coronavirus epidemic, and eventually defeating it, the National Health Commission said in a statement Friday.