A COVID-19 cluster linked to an 84-year-old superspreader at a Hong Kong public hospital could continue to grow, a government expert adviser warned, as the city recorded 59 new cases on Saturday. At least 11 patients and four doctors and medical staff at United Christian Hospital were found to be infected, according to Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, a top microbiologist from the University of Hong Kong. The cluster was likely to have been caused by an 84-year-old superspreader, he said.

The elderly woman was admitted to hospital on Dec. 15 for a diabetes complication and first tested negative for COVID-19, according to hospital authorities. She was transferred to a palliative care ward three days later and then to another ward on Dec. 21, where 11 of the infected patients had stayed.

She was tested again for the coronavirus after her symptoms of a mild pneumonia persisted, and her test results showed a high viral load, making her a superspreader, the hospital said.

Yuen said the virus might have been transmitted through the air in the palliative care ward.

“Because this is a palliative care ward, most of the patients there are suffering from very severe conditions, like terminal cancer, like major organ failures, their immune system is very poor and thus they are very easily infected,” he said.

One medical staff member had helped clean the woman’s mouth and fed her without wearing any protective goggles, and droplets may have entered the staffer’s eye, Yuen said.

He recommended adding more air purifiers inside the wards to increase air flow and suggested patients not be moved around so much once they are admitted into the hospital.

Hong Kong recorded 59 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the city’s tally to 8,540 cases, with 136 related deaths. Of the 53 local cases, half could not be traced while others were linked to other clusters.

The Centre for Health Protection also said a traveler returning from the United Kingdom to Hong Kong on Dec. 11 was found to have been infected with a more contagious variant of the coronavirus that was first discovered in the U.K.

The patient, a 18-year-old woman, had been quarantining at a hospital and did not come into any contact with anyone. She was sent to the hospital after she reported having a fever on Monday and is in stable condition, the CHP said.

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