Tuen Mun Hospital announces preliminary positive case of COVID-19
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The spokesperson for Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH) made the following announcement today (September 12) regarding a case tested preliminarily positive to COVID-19:
A 65-year-old female patient with chronic disease attended the Medical specialist out-patient clinic of TMH for follow-up on September 9 afternoon and the doctor recommended hospital admission for a detailed examination. The patient was admitted to TMH yesterday (September 11) morning and was arranged to stay at a temporary bed placed outside a cubicle in a ward. The patient had no fever nor symptoms of acute respiratory infections when she was admitted to the hospital. She had put on surgical mask at all times in the ward.
Since the hospital has implemented inpatient admission screening, the patient was arranged to take the viral test and the preliminary result available in late afternoon yesterday was positive to COVID-19. The infection control unit conducted investigation upon learning the preliminary positive result, and traced healthcare workers who had been in contact with the index patient and patients who had stayed in the same ward. At the same time, nucleic acid and antibody testing were arranged. The test result revealed the presence of antibody in this patient.
The infection control experts of TMH and the Centre for Health Protection agreed that the patient is at the later stage of infection and not being infectious according to her clinical condition and test results. Therefore, patients nearby and healthcare workers who had been in contact with her do not have to be quarantined nor undergo medical surveillance. The index patient stayed in TMH now with stable condition.
Ends/Saturday, September 12, 2020
Issued at HKT 22:30
Issued at HKT 22:30
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