Coronavirus: Hong Kong reports zero new cases for the first time in two months

Hong Kong on April 20 for the first time in nearly two months reported zero new cases of coronavirus. The Department of Health and Hospital Authority has decided to not hold their daily press briefings that they have been conducting every day at 4:30 pm since late January. Even though the Chinese autonomous region has not recorded any new infection on Monday, the risk of imported cases still remains huge in the city. 

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According to reports, Hong Kong reported its first coronavirus case on January 23, the day China shut down the epicentre Wuhan in the mainland. The COVID-19 cases rose rapidly in Hong Kong after residents started returning from abroad, mainly from countries like the United Kingdom, the United States and other European nations. But the cases slowly started to dip and Hong Kong has recorded a single-digit rise for more than a week. 

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What's surprising is that Hong Kong, despite being one of the densely populated cities in the world, has managed to bend its curve without any lockdown. Although, authorities in the region put restrictions on travel, quarantined cases and their contacts and urged people to practice social distancing while in public places. According to data by worldometer, Hong Kong has recorded 1,026 confirmed cases as of April 20, of which four people have lost their lives. There are currently 392 active cases in the region, with eight of them under critical condition. 

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Coronavirus outbreak

The coronavirus outbreak has infected over 2.42 million people globally and has killed nearly 1,65,000 patients since it first broke out in December 2019. The virus is believed to have originated from a seafood market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the initial epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally. The United States, Italy, Spain, France, Iran and the United Kingdom are currently the most affected countries in the world. 

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(Image Credit: AP)