Hong Kong coronavirus patient dies as local transmissions increase

The victim had travelled to Wuhan last month

Hong Kong China Outbreak Pro-China supporters wearing masks urge government to deliver masks to local people during a protest in Hong Kong | AP

Hong Kong on Tuesday reported a death due to the novel coronavirus. The semi-autonomous city has become the second place outside mainland China to report the death of a coronavirus patient. Authorities have said they fear that local transmissions are increasing in the densely populated city.

The victim had travelled to Wuhan last month. So far the only other reported fatality outside of the Chinese mainland has been in the Philippines. Hong Kong now has 17 confirmed infections, the majority of people were infected in mainland China. 

China faced a similar catastrophe in 2003 when the outbreak of SARS (Severely acute respiratory syndrome) killed 300 people in Hong Kong and left lasting psychological scars among its people. 

Four of those affected by the novel coronavirus in Hong Kong are said to be from local transmissions. 

Hong Kongers currently are feeling certain distrust towards leaders in the mainland, which had already worsened due to months of unrest in the city, that is demanding greater democratic freedoms.

According to an official from Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection, the local transmissions were a cause for concern as it could suggest the city's outbreak was becoming self-sustaining. On Monday, Hong Kong's leader announced the closure of all but two land border crossings to mainland China in a bid to halt the spread.