By The SUN
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| HK will implement the strictest gathering restrictions ever starting this Thursday |
Of the new cases, four were imported, while the rest were locally acquired, and judging from the recent trend, most were untraceable.
Speaking at today’s daily press briefing on the coronavirus situation, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said that from yesterday’s record number of cases, about 450 were untraceable.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
She also said there were around 500 preliminary positive cases, indicating the Omicron-fueled spread of the coronavirus has yet to ease.
Chuang said many of today’s cases came from recent large-scale gatherings. At least 19 big clusters of more than 10 people were said to have led to a number of people getting infected. In at least one such case, 47 people tested positive.
“I am not even talking of small groups of less than 10 people,” Chuang said.
The surge from these gatherings led to the Executive Council to approve today a proposal from the government to ban cross-family mingling of more than two households starting on Thursday.
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Chuang said that of the 621 local cases, 15 carried the Delta variant, while the rest have Omicron.
Dr Larry Lee from the Hospital Authority said that as of 9am today, 1,853 Covid-19 patients were receiving treatment at various infection control centers and public hospitals.
One unvaccinated 84-year-old man is in critical condition while a 77-year-old woman who was previously listed as critical, is now in serious condition. Both are unavaccinated. Another patient, who is vaccinated, is also in serious condition.
The rest are all in stable condition.
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| People must use the LeaveHomeSafe app in most venues starting Feb 24 |
Lee said that while Omicron patients usually have only mild or no symptoms at all, others, especially the unvaccinated, can get very sick, so people should not be complacent.
Those who have yet to be vaccinated must do so immediately.
Director of Health Dr Ronald Lam said that a total of 2,600 were reported in the past two weeks, and 898 of them, or 34.5%, were unlinked.
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Most of the cases (85%) carried the Omicron variant while 5.8% were Delta cases. A big chunk of the cases, or 80%, had a Ct value of 30, indicating they were highly infectious.
Lam said that starting this afternoon, the Stay Home Safe Program, under which close contacts or contacts of close contacts are allowed to isolate at home for either four or 14 days, depending on their proximity to an infected person, has begun.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
As of noon today, 38 persons have been allowed to stay home and conduct self-monitoring by using the rapid antigen tests and checking their temperature daily.
But they must wear a wristband tracking device and should not have any contact with people outside of their homes. All deliveries to them from relatives and other individuals must be left at their doorsteps.
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