By The SUN
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| Dr Au of CHP and Dr Ho of HA report on the latest Covid-19 situation |
Hong Kong has recorded 613 new Covid-19 cases Monday, the fourth
straight day that the infection figure has dropped to below 1,000.
The new cases included 316 detected by PCR tests, and 297 were reported by people who did rapid antigen tests on their own.
Among them were 13 imported cases, including one picked up at a community testing centre 12 days after the patient’s arrival in Hong Kong.
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Dr Albert Au of the Centre for Health Protection
said it’s believed that the infection of the 10-year-old patient is a
re-positive case as she had a low viral load and her family members all tested
negative for the virus.
He declined a suggestion during the press conference that the seven-day hotel quarantine for all incoming travellers be extended anew to 14 days, saying he believes the current regulation is safe as most of imported cases are detected shortly after arrival.
Au also announced that all Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul will be suspended for a week or until Apr 24, after four passengers on the flight yesterday tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival.
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He said a similar suspension will be imposed on the Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur as one of its passengers tested positive on arrival while three did not comply with pre-boarding requirements.
Meanwhile, Dr Sara Ho of the Hospital Authority reported
that 20 more patients with Covid had died, including 17 who passed away in
public hospitals in the past 24 hours.
So far, 1.18 infections and 8,946 deaths have been recorded in the fifth wave of the pandemic.
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Earlier, government health adviser Ivan Hung has said the daily caseload may continue to drop until it reaches double digits, but it is not likely a zero infection rate will be achieved.
The Hong Kong University expert said there could be a slight rise in the number of infections after the Easter holiday, but the downward trend will continue.
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He called on all those eligible, particularly the elderly and children, to get a Covid-19 vaccine as soon as possible, saying a high vaccination rate will benefit everyone in the community.
Hung also said that around three percent of patients from the fifth wave will suffer from long Covid, which is much lower than the average overseas ratio of 10 to 20 percent.
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Long Covid means patients will continue to experience symptoms weeks or months after recovery.
He said this was because local patients are sent to hospitals at the early stage of infection.
