Analyzing local virus strains, the team found that at least 25.2 percent of the 286 imported cases between September 1 and October 31 were only detected during their mandatory quarantine. That means some inbound travelers might have passed the nucleic acid tests at the airport despite being infected. Gilman Siu Kit-hang, associate professor of health technology and informatics and the leader of the research team, said the airport tests might not be able to pick up patients with low viral loads, usually seen in the first few days of infection. He said recent cases belonged to a new virus strain and that while there had been an increased number of imported cases since late September, there hadn't been a surge in infection numbers. During a recent visit to a hotel that had seen several confirmed cases, Siu said he could enter freely without being intercepted by staff.

Source: The Standard November 17, 2020 01:22 UTC