HONG KONG (Reuters) – According to health officials, Hong Kong authorities are looking for a COVID-19-positive patient who escaped one of the city’s largest hospitals during treatment.
The 63-year-old man, identified as patient 7379, was admitted to the isolation ward of Queen Elizabeth Hospital on December 14 after it was confirmed that he had COVID-19.
However, the man escaped the hospital ward via a stairwell on Friday and could not be recaptured. A hospital statement said the patient escaped wearing a coat over hospital clothes.
“The staff saw that the man was on his way to the ward … the staff chased him, but the efforts were in vain,” said a hospital spokesman.
It is the first known case of a COVID-19 patient escape from the hospital.
According to a government website, Hong Kong has registered 7,970 COVID-19 cases.
Two patients, aged 84 and 85, died in the past two days, the hospital authority said on Friday.
Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Hong Kong; Editing by Shri Navaratnam