61 COVID-19 cases reported

July 21, 2020

Centre for Health Protection Communicable Disease Branch Head Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan:

In general, any surveillance system or any measures to prevent introduction of infection into the community or Hong Kong cannot be foolproof. Even (if) you are testing all the incoming passengers, it’s not foolproof. The most we can do is try to make the system as foolproof as possible. 

Also, there may be silent transmission in the community. Even one case, if he/she is very infectious or he/she is asymptomatic and does not seek medical care, they can spread the disease in the community. If everybody is adopting infection control measures strictly, then that spread may be stopped. But if everybody is complacent and gathering and having a lot of social activities, so even one introduction of infection can cause a major outbreak in the community. So I think this is multi-factorial.

Our major concern is how to control this infection in the community because it has affected various sectors of the community and also a lot of elderly in residential areas and also the public housing estates. That’s quite worrying because they are elderly and many of them have underlying illness and some of them may not seek medical attention early, so this may cause further delay in detection or treatment of them.

We are trying our best to cope with the outbreak and we have a lot of contingency plans in place. But if the outbreak is huge or the numbers exceed (the capacity of) our healthcare system, so even if we are very well prepared, there’s a limit.

(To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating 61 additional COVID-19 cases, of which three are imported and 58 are locally transmitted.

Among the local cases, 33 are linked to previous cases while 25 are those with unknown sources of infection.

Speaking to reporters at a press briefing this afternoon, the centre's Communicable Disease Branch Head Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan said everything is being done to prevent COVID-19 from spreading in the community.

"In general, any surveillance system or any measures to prevent introduction of infection into the community or Hong Kong cannot be foolproof. Even if you are testing all the incoming passengers, it is not foolproof. The most we can do is try to make the system as foolproof as possible."

Dr Chuang added that it is crucial for the public to strictly adopt infection control measures and not let their guard down.

"There may be silent transmission in the community. Even one case, if he/she is very infectious or he/she is asymptomatic and does not seek medical care, they can spread the disease in the community. If everybody is adopting infection control measures strictly, then that spread may be stopped. But if everybody is complacent and gathering and having a lot of social activities, so even one introduction of infection can cause a major outbreak in the community. So I think this is multi-factorial.

"Our major concern is how to control this infection in the community because it has affected various sectors of the community and also a lot of elderly in residential areas and also the public housing estates. That is quite worrying because they are elderly and many of them have underlying illness and some of them may not seek medical attention early, so this may cause further delay in detection or treatment of them.

"We are trying our best to cope with the outbreak and we have a lot of contingency plans in place. But if the outbreak is huge or the numbers exceed the capacity of our healthcare system, so even if we are very well prepared, there is a limit."

She also appealed to the public not to take the coronavirus test unless they have symptoms, to avoid further burdening the healthcare system.

For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Government's dedicated webpage.