COVID-19: Coronavirus patient caught after going on the run from Hong Kong hospital
Li Wan-keung escaped the isolation ward by putting a jacket over his hospital clothes and exiting via a stairwell.
Monday 21 December 2020 09:36, UK
A coronavirus patient has been caught by police after escaping from hospital in Hong Kong and spending two days on the run.
Li Wan-keung, initially identified as patient 7379, escaped from the isolation ward at the city's Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Friday, sparking a police manhunt.
He had first been admitted on 14 December after testing positive for COVID-19.
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According to police, the 63-year-old managed to make his exit by placing a jacket over his hospital clothes and leaving the ward via a stairwell.
It sparked a more than two-day hunt for the patient, with officers eventually tracking him down in the territory's Mong Kok neighbourhood, where he was sent back to hospital.
His condition is said to be stable and a guard is watching over the isolation ward to stop any other escape attempts, the South China Morning Post reported.
Contact tracing has also begun to establish if the man was close to anyone during his brief time as a fugitive.
Anyone who escapes quarantine in Hong Kong could face a HK$5,000 (£480) fine and up to two months in jail.
There have been more than 8,000 cases of COVID-19 confirmed so far in Hong Kong, along with 130 deaths.