A coronavirus patient escaped isolation in one of the largest hospitals in Hong Kong. A manhunt has been launched, while officials are asking the public to help capture the fugitive.
The 63-year-old man, known as patient 7379, was isolated on Monday in the city’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital after giving positive results for Covid-19, local media reported, citing a hospital spokesman.
On Friday, around 17:00, local time, staff noticed the patient trying to leave the ward without permission. Doctors tried to catch him, but he escaped capture by sprinting down the stairs. He hasn’t been seen since.
The hospital immediately contacted the police and asked the public to help bring the patient back. Officials said he was a local resident with no travel history and close contact with another patient confirmed by Covid-19.
There have been numerous cases of suspected or confirmed coronavirus patients fleeing quarantine in various countries since the beginning of the pandemic. In May, a 39-year-old man was arrested in Nashville, Tennessee, after jumping a fence while trying to escape mandatory solitary confinement.
In July, a 50-year-old man cut a fence almost 2 meters high and left a quarantine facility on the North Island of New Zealand. In February, a young woman fled a hospital in Saint Petersburg, Russia, disabling an electric lock in her room. She was later detained and quarantined again.
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