Two foreign visitors who arrived in Hong Kong by train on Thursday evening and were suspected to have MERS – Middle East Respiratory Syndrome – have tested negative to the virus.
A 48-year-old man and the 4-year-old girl, both Saudi Arabian nationals, were sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital by ambulance and are now in a stable condition, according to press release from the Department of Health’s Center for Health Protection.
The man and his granddaughter were on intercity train Z815 from Guangzhou East Station and arrived at Hung Hom Station in Kowloon at around 6:18pm, Apple Daily reported.
The Centre for Health Protection said in a statement on Friday that the two suspected cases tested negative for MERS coronavirus.
Prior to the announcement of the test result on Friday, the train operator, MTR, disinfected areas where the two passengers had been with bleach. The train then returned to the mainland with passengers on board, Sing Pao reported.
The rail operator contacted authorities on the mainland, telling them to disinfect seats 51 and 57 in Coach 7 and nearby areas.