The government has revealed that Financial Secretary Paul Chan tested positive upon arrival in Hong Kong on Tuesday evening, but stressed that he had recovered from Covid and therefore did not need to be isolated.

The clarification came after Chan attended a top-level investment summit hosted by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on Wednesday, a day after flying back from Saudi Arabia where he was diagnosed with Covid-19 last week.

In a statement issued late on Wednesday, a government spokesman said Chan's PCR test result was positive, but that his Ct value – which indicates the viral load in a sample – was within the range of recovered cases.

The spokesman said that the Centre for Health Protection had evaluated the official's health declaration record and his PCR test result in accordance with established procedures, adding that he was asymptomatic and had obtained a negative rapid test result before boarding a flight to Hong Kong.

The government denied that the finance chief was given special treatment.

"According to the records of the [Department of Health], from September 26 to November 1, a total of 455 inbound travellers who declared a past history of Covid-19 infection within three months prior to arrival at Hong Kong, tested PCR positive upon arrival and were asymptomatic with relatively high Ct values by PCR test," the spokesman said.

"They were regarded as recovered cases and not contagious, [and] they were not given [an] isolation order [or a] Red Code as they were not regarded as new infections or contagious."

Authorities added that Chan had to follow measures which applied to other participants from overseas when attending the summit, and that he would not attend banquets at the event as a precautionary measure.