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Feb exports value down 0.8%

The value of Hong Kong’s total exports decreased to $284.1 billion in February, down 0.8% on the same month last year, the Census & Statistics Department announced today.   The value of imports of goods fell 1.8% to $325.7 billion for the same period.   A trade deficit of $41.7 billion, or 12.8% of the value of imports, was recorded in February.   Comparing the three-month period ending February with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the value of exports rose 5.5%, while that of imports also increased 3.3%.   The Government noted that taking the first two months of the year together to remove the volatility caused by the difference in timing of the Lunar New Year, the value of exports posted a 16.6% growth against a very low base of comparison a year ago.   Exports to the Mainland and the US rose notably, while those to the European Union fell. Those to other major Asian markets recorded a mixed performance.   Looking ahead, the Gove

8 COVID-19 cases reported

(To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)   The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating eight additional COVID-19 cases, of which three are imported, one is linked with an imported case and one of the remaining four local cases has an unknown source of infection.   The centre’s Communicable Disease Branch Head Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan explained at a press briefing this afternoon that the unlinked case involves a 26-year-old Pakistani man who was arrested over illegal assembly in Kwun Tong on March 19.   She also pointed out that the patient had a low viral load when he was taken to the hospital.   “The Ct (cycle threshold) value when the COVID-19 infected patient was admitted to the hospital was quite high and also the immunoglobulin antibody test has been returned as positive.   “So it is possible that he was not very infectious during the time of his arrest. But of course we cannot quantify the risk, although there may be a small risk.”   Dr Chuang added that 16 other people who were arrested along with the Pakistani national are considered close contacts and must undergo quarantine.   “So for the other police officers and also ambulancemen, we will treat them in the usual manner. We’ll assess the risk of infection individually as to whether any of them had close contact with the patient. If they did, we will also treat them as close contacts.”   Among the three linked cases, one of the patients is a customer of URSUS Fitness.   Meanwhile, more than 10 people have preliminarily tested positive for the virus, including a 71-year-old taxi driver who lives in Siu Sai Wan. He last drove his taxi on March 17.   For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Government's dedicated webpage.
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