HONG KONG • The coronavirus claimed the life of a 72-year-old man in Hong Kong yesterday, taking the city’s death toll to six.
The man was admitted to hospital on June 4 in a stable condition and had no symptoms, but his condition later deteriorated, said a spokesman for the Prince of Wales Hospital.
He was the second fatality from an infection cluster in Sha Tin’s Lek Yuen Estate, the South China Morning Post reported.
A 78-year-old woman from the cluster, which involved nine cases, died last Saturday.
Yesterday’s fatality came as the city confirmed 16 more imported cases, bringing the tally of infections to 1,177. All the new cases involved people arriving from Pakistan.
The Centre for Health Protection reported no new local infections yesterday, extending the city’s streak to 10 days, the newspaper said.
On Monday, Hong Kong reported the biggest spike in infections in months, with 30 imported new cases.
The city had further eased its social distancing restrictions last Friday. The limit at both public gatherings and other activities, such as weddings and companies’ annual general meetings, was raised from eight to 50 people.
While there is no limit on group size at restaurants, those at karaoke lounges, party rooms, gaming centres and gyms, for instance, were doubled from eight to 16.
This further easing of social distancing restrictions will be for two weeks, until July 2, for the authorities to monitor the coronavirus situation, said Food and Health Secretary Sophia Chan.
