HONG KONG: Hong Kong police late on Sunday caught a Covid-19 positive patient who escaped on Friday from one of the city’s largest hospitals while undergoing treatment.
Li Wan-keung, 63, initially identified as patient 7379, was admitted to the isolation ward of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Dec 14 after it was confirmed he had Covid-19.
However, police said the man escaped the ward via a stairwell on Friday, wearing a jacket over hospital clothes.
Police said on its Facebook page late on Sunday Li was caught in the working-class neighbourhood of Mong Kok at around 11pm and sent to hospital for treatment.
Police said persons who escape quarantine may face a HK$5,000 (US$645) penalty and up to two months imprisonment.
Hong Kong has so far reported more than 8,000 coronavirus cases and 130 deaths.