By The SUN
Health officials have reported 413 new Covid
cases on Thursday, a slight drop from the previous day.
At the same time, they reported that a 40-year-old man who arrived in Hong Kong on Apr 23 via flight QR 818 from South Africa via Qatar had been found to carry the Omicron BA.5 sub-variant, the second such case in the city.
According to Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection, the man was asymptomatic and tested positive on arrival. He received two doses of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong.
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He was transferred to a hotel designated as community isolation facility from the airport. His case is still being investigated.
Chuang said that the Omicron sub-variant has not been found in the local community so far, but CHP will continue to monitor cases.
The Omicron BA.5 sub-variant was first detected in a male traveler from South Africa who arrived in Hong Kong via Ethiopia and Thailand on Apr. 6.
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The World Health Organization has been monitoring the new Omicron mutation, but has yet to determine whether it is more transmissible or causes more severe symptoms.
Meanwhile, 24 imported cases were among those reported today.
Seven of them tested positive on arrival, including three who flew in aboard flight AC007 from Vancouver, Canada. The flight has been suspended from flying to Hong Kong as a result.
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Of the latest cases, 206 were confirmed by PCR tests and 207 were reported by people who self-tested using rapid antigen tests.
Another five Covid patients have died. But they did not include 87-year-old actor Kenneth Tsang, who was found dead in his quarantine hotel yesterday, two days after arriving from Singapore.
Authorities say Tsang tested negative for the coronavirus.
Chuang said the actor did not make any calls seeking medical help.
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“For those who have special needs under quarantine, they can apply to have family members to accompany them during the quarantine period and to take care of them," she said.
Hospital Authority’s Dr Lau Ka-hin said the death toll in the fifth wave of outbreaks has now risen to 9,074.
Lau said yesterday’s fatalities involved four men and one woman aged between 60 and 95.
Among them, three were residents of elderly homes, four had no vaccination record, and only one was aged below 65.
