Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong increase to 145

   HONG KONG, March 15  -- Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) reported four additional confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday afternoon, bringing the total number to 145 in Hong Kong.
   The first case involves a 35-year-old man who had been in Japan during his incubation period. The patient started coughing upon his arrival in Hong Kong on March 11, and had a fever on March 14 before being sent to hospital, head of the CHP's Communicable Disease Branch Chuang Shuk-kwan said at daily press briefing.
   The second case involves a 29-year-old man who visited Germany and Austria in early March. He lived at a hotel in Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island, since his arrival in Hong Kong on March 13. The man contacted a confirmed patient during his visit to Austria.
   A 37-year-old man of the third case and his friend, a 39-year-old man of the fourth case, together traveled to France during the incubation period before returning to Hong Kong.
   Of all 145 confirmed cases, four have passed away, 58 remain hospitalized. Xinhua