by Daisy CL Mandap
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| Experts say Hong Kong's daily Covid-19 tally should be well over 100,000 by now |
The
number of confirmed Covid-19 cases dropped slightly to 32,597 today, Mar 1,
from Monday’s record tally of 34,466, but officials say the actual figure may
be higher as many people may no longer be reporting their positive results from
rapid antigen tests (RATs).
Speaking
at today’s press briefing on the Covid situation, Dr Albert Au of the Centre
for Health Protection said “the number cannot fully reflect reality” after the
government said that RAT positive results are now recognized as confirmed.
PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE
This appears to be supported by a Hong Kong University study that says the daily infection will peak at around 182,000 by next week but only about 35,000 cases will be reported each day to authorities.
The study also says that around 1.7 million people in Hong Kong may have already been infected in the fifth wave of the pandemic but many people are not reporting their positive test results from RATs or are asymptomatic.
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“Even if the level remains the same or rises fast, then we will have an accumulated number of more than 200,000 per week so we will continue monitoring the situation,” said Au.
He also said that some people infected with Covid have mild or no symptoms, so they might not think to get tested at all.
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Yesterday, Au said 120,000 people reported testing positive on their website, but only 56,000 could be confirmed as many appeared to have taken a RAT.
Au repeated that an online platform where positive results from RATs may be uploaded, along with the patient's personal and household information, will be put up soon.
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| Au says many who tested positive in RATs may not have reported their infection |
Meanwhile,
there has been a surge in the number of Covid-related deaths in public
hospitals.
Dr Larry Lee from the Hospital Authority reported a total of 172 patients who passed on, 117 of them in the past 24 hours and the 55 others, between Feb 23 and Feb 27.
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They took Hong Kong’s total
death toll from the coronavirus to 808.
Of the latest cases, Dr Lee
said 63 came from residential care homes. Eighty-six did not have any
vaccination while 15 had two doses each of a vaccine and 16 others had a jab
each.
One of the notable cases
involved a 58 year-old-man who had no underlying illnesses but was
unvaccinated. He was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital with pneumonia on Feb
27, 10 days after the onset of symptoms. He died the next day.
Five
other fatalities who were aged below 60 years old had underlying illnesses,
including cancer, heart condition, diabetes and renal disease.
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A total of 6,124 patients remain in public hospitals and various treatment centres. Of these, 57 are in critical condition while 88 are seriously ill.
A further 570 patients with mild symptoms are at Penny’s Bay isolation facility.
Lee said that all beds at the North Lantau Hospital will soon be allotted to Covid-19 patients. All non-Covid patients will be transferred to the infection control unit at Princess Margaret Hospital and other public hospitals.
As for the backlog in moving dead bodies from hospitals he said the situation has been eased by securing 1,350 additional places in morgues.
Some of the places were borrowed from a funeral home and a residential care home, while work is being speeded up at the Fu Sha Mortuary in Sha Tin, where 800 additional places will be made available in early April.
The CHP also said that while cases have been reported from all districts across the city, Yuen Long, Sha Tin, Sham Shui Po, Kwun Tong and YauTsimMong topped the list of places where higher infection numbers were recorded.
