By The SUN
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| Secretary Lo says the current outbreak will only peak in September |
It could get worse
before it gets better.
This seems to be the
message from Hong Kong’s new Secretary for Health, Prof. Lo Chung-mau, who said
in an interview earlier today that the current wave of Covid-19 infection could
lead to 10,000 being hospitalized by September.
Lo’s statement came as
the Centre for Health Protection reported 3,154 new cases Wednesday, 212 of
them imported. It was the second time in seven days that the caseload breached the
3,000 mark.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
The number of patients
in hospitals also went up to 1,031, sparking fresh concern among authorities.
Lo had earlier said
government expects to see the number of cases doubling to about 6,000 by the
middle of this month.
His new statement
indicating the infection would peak only by September indicates the number of
cases would likely continue to surge within the next few weeks.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
However, Lo said in
his interview with a local news outlet that he would not allow the current outbreak
to get out of hand.
Between February and
March this year, a severe outbreak caused by the Omicron variant of the
coronavirus saw the daily caseload surging to more than 50,000, with thousands more
positive results from self-tests going unreported.
In the interview, Lo
also indicated quarantine-free travel could be allowed only in time for the
global bankers’ summit to be held in the city in November.
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Whether new arrivals
would be allowed to skip hotel quarantine for just two of the current seven
days’ requirement or the entire week, would depend on the positivity rate among
travelers on the third day of their hotel quarantine, said Lo.
But even if quarantine-free
travel is finally allowed, he said there would still be safeguards like PCR testing
prior to boarding a flight to Hong Kong.
Once the health code
is implemented, new arrivals would also be restricted in their movements, like
they will not be allowed to enter high-risk venues like bars, hospitals or elderly
care homes; and engage in mask-less activities like eating in restaurants.
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| Press for details |
The November summit organized
by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Financial Secretary is expected to
gather more than 100 global financial executives, but the hotel quarantine
requirement would likely deter some from attending.
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| Ho says the rise in hospital admissions is worrying (File) |
Meanwhile, Hospital Authority’s Dr Sara Ho said it was “worrying” that the hospitalization figure had gone up to more than 1,000, especially since the source of infection in “quite a lot” of them was unknown. Last month, the number was only around 300.
Ho also said that among those confined in public
hospitals, 18 are critically ill, with nine of them in intensive care; while 30
are in serious condition.
Two more Covid patients died, a 102-year-old
woman who was unjabbed and a 65-year-old man who received two doses of a
vaccine.
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Ho said more staff would be deployed to ensure
patients were well looked after.
She also said the daily Covid testing for staff
would be stepped up, with those that care for vulnerable groups being required
to do the PCR instead of the rapid antigen tests, before they report for duty.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health
Protection said that of the 212 imported cases, 101 were detected at the
airport, 67 during hotel quarantine and the remaining 43 after ending their
isolation period.
Among those who tested positive on arrival, 53
had flown in from the United Kingdom, 20 from the United States, 12 from
Thailand, 11 from Australia, and the rest from various places.
She reiterated that less than 10 percent of all
the daily infections were imported cases, when asked if it was safe to relax
the hotel quarantine for new arrivals.
“There is a greater risk with local
transmissions,” she said.
Chuang said 58 new infections involving the
BA.2.12.1 sub-variant have been found, and 40 of them were from unknown
sources. An additional 24 cases involving BA.4 or BA.5 were also found, of
which 15 were unlinked.
An additional 387 cases were reported from 309
local schools, involving 314 students and 73 staff. Four schools were told to
suspend some classes where at least two cases were found.
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| PADALA NA! |
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