By The SUN
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| CE Lam holds the last of her daily press briefings as the number of Covid-19 cases dropped to 946 |
Health
authorities reported Friday that the number of newly confirmed Covid-19
infections fell to 946, the first time it has dropped to below 1,000 since Feb.
10.
The report was followed by an announcement from the government that Chief Executive Carrie Lam will no longer hold daily press briefings on Covid-19 starting Saturday, due to the easing of the pandemic situation.
CE Lam had earlier said the press briefings would be cancelled when Hong Kong’s daily caseload fell to below 1,000.
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But the statement said the CE will continue to meet the press,
including the Tuesday morning sessions she holds before attending the Executive
Council meeting.
She started holding the 11am briefings on Mar 9 when the fifth wave of the infection surged to record levels.
Friday’s figures included 471 cases that were detected via PCR tests, while 475 were declared by people who did rapid self-tests. They took the infection tally from the fifth wave to 1.196million.
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Eleven of the cases were imported. Four came in from Doha and tested positive on arrival, prompting a seven-day suspension of the Qatar Airways flight.
Officials also reported 67 additional deaths, including those of 36 people who passed away on Thursday.
The youngest among them was a 59-year-old woman who was unvaccinated and had a vascular disorder. She was also suspected of having lung cancer.
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The death toll from the Omicron wave has now risen to 8,856, with the fatality rate at 0.748 percent.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said the
reproductive number of local cases, as measured by the University of Hong Kong,
is now around 0.4, suggesting that the city’s virus situation is no longer on
an upward trend.
But she said the daily figure is still high compared to the peak periods during the previous two waves.
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She again urged people to wear masks and maintain personal hygiene
as people turned out in droves on the first day of the Easter holidays, which
will last until Monday.
