Officers from Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, left, patrol the entertainment area of Lan Kwai Fong in Central district late on April 4, 2020, after Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ordered the temporary closure of all bars and pubs which sell mostly alcohol as part of measures to stop the novel coronavirus infection. (MAY JAMES / AFP)

HONG KONG – As many as 122 police officers, who were in close contact with two coronavirus-infected colleagues, will be sent to quarantine centers for observation and testing, the Department of Health said on Sunday.

The revelation came as the city’s health authorities confirmed 28 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 890.

Two male police officers, both stationed in Kowloon West Region, were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the deadly virus, on March 30 and April 4.

Among their close contacts, three people have developed symptoms of upper respiratory infection and will be sent for virus test, Chuang Shuk-kwan, who heads the Communicable Disease Branch of the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health, said on Sunday at a regular press briefing on the pandemic.

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f the new 28 cases, 23 have travelled abroad, while the rest are believed to have contracted the disease locally

Chuang said the three police officers had used the same lavatory in the police station with their two infected colleagues.

Of the new 28 cases, 23 have travelled abroad, while the rest are believed to have contracted the disease locally. The new cases include the mother of a 40-day-old baby who previously tested positive for the coronavirus. 

Chuang told reporters that 72 patients who shared the same ward in the Pok Oi Hospital with a 93-year-old infected patient will be quarantined. 

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Meanwhile, around 200 medical workers who had contact with the patient were tested for the virus.

So far, 33 of the 72 patients, together with 82 of the 200 medical workers at Pok Oi, were tested negative for the virus.

In addition, 18 environmental samples collected in the hospital were all negative for coronavirus.

Contact the writer at kathyzhang@chinadailyhk.com