HK reports 12 new Covid-19 cases-international-health/medicine-politics

Hong Kong, Oct 15 (IANS) : Hong Kongs Center for Health Protection (CHP) reported 12 additional confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, including two local cases of unknown origin.

The newly-reported cases included eight imported cases and four local infections, bringing Hong Kongs total tally to 5,213, Xinhua news agency reported.

The two untraceable local cases involved a 73-year-old businessman and a 35-year-old musician from the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.A total of 58 cases were reported between October 8 and Wednesday, among which 64 percent were local ones.

There was 9 per cent of local cases with unknown sources of infection, Under Secretary for Food and Health of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Chui Tak-yi told a press conference.Chui said private doctors played an important role in fighting Covid-19 in Hong Kong as some of the confirmed cases went to private clinics when they first developed symptoms related to the disease.

He urged private doctors to arrange testing for patients with Covid-19 symptoms, which is provided for free by the Department of Health of the HKSAR government.According to Hong Kongs Hospital Authority, 126 patients are still being treated in hospitals, including 12 in critical condition.