By Daisy CL Mandap
 |
| Many of those who have passed away or are in serious condition are elderly patients |
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said the number of cases that the health system managed to confirm was 10,010, already a record rise from yesterday’s 8,798 infections.
But because of the backlog in confirming cases, she said the CHP relies more on the trend shown by the daily reported cases instead of the confirmed infections.
Yesterday, the total number of cases reported was 17,269 so today’s surge, according to her showed an “exponential rise” within just a day.
 |
| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Today’s cases are just a few thousand fewer than the 28,000 daily infection rate forecast for mid to late March in a study conducted by the University of Hong Kong, whose medical faculty dean suggested a citywide lockdown as the only way to stop the contagion.
Of the total confirmed cases, only four were reported, and the rest were all locally acquired. Nine had the Delta variant, and 5,086 were suspected Omicron cases. The rest were still unclassified or the viral load was insufficient for testing.
 |
| Pindutin para sa detalye |
Dr Lau Ka-hin, a chief manager at the Hospital Authority, said 47 patients passed away in the past 24 hours, but there were an additional 12 who died between Feb 21 and 23 whose cases were not reported on time.
 |
| Dr Lau has the grim task of reporting on the daily death toll |
Today’s cases included a nine-year-old boy whose death was reported yesterday. The boy who had a genetic muscular disease collapsed at home Wednesday night and was admitted to United Christian Hospital in the early hours yesterday. He tested positive for Covid-19 during pre-admission screening.
His condition continued to worsen and he died yesterday morning. His case has been referred to the coroner to ascertain the exact cause of death.
Dr Lau reported that 51 other patients were in critical condition, while a further 47 were seriously ill.
 |
| CONTACT US! |
Among the critical patients is a five-year-old girl who had
fever for a few days before she was rushed to
Dr Lau said the girl’s parents, sister and a domestic worker all tested positive in rapid antigen tests. The mother and the sister have positive symptoms.
He reiterated that a four-year-old boy who was also rushed to Queen Mary after suffering convulsions and was tested positive, is now in stable condition.
 |
| Press for details |
As for the 47 patients who recently died, he said they were aged 9 (the boy) to 100 years old. Twenty-seven were males and 20 were females.
Only four of them had two doses of a vaccine, while one had one jab. The rest were all unvaccinated.
Most, or 41 of them, were above 65 years old. The six younger ones, apart from the boy, were aged 48 to 64, and had various ailments, including terminal renal failure, stroke, diabetes, cramps and seizures, while one had a drug abuse problem.
 |
| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
A big number of them – 27 – were staying in residential care homes.
As to the 12 whose deaths were not reported on time, Dr Lau said they were aged 45 to 95, and comprised eight males and four females.
On a brighter note, Dr Lau reported that through a $50 million donation from the Li Ka Shing Foundation, some 200 cardiovascular patients in public hospitals who need surgery will be moved to five private hospitals, including Gleneagles and Hong Kong Sanatorium.
He repeated an appeal for more private doctors to help their colleagues in the public hospitals cope with the surge in Covid patients.
“Many colleagues have been working day and night without rest,” Dr Lau said.
The problem has been made worse by the infection of nearly 2,000 public health care workers, mostly from the community. Dr Lau said some of them have returned to work, while others are still in isolation.
He said he was unsure as to how many close contacts have been identified as a result of these infections.
 |
| CALL US! |
