The SUN HK : HK posts 4,634 new Covid cases

By The SUN

Both BioNTech and Sinovac jabs are expected to be made available to kids aged 6 months and above

Government experts are set to convene a meeting Monday on whether to allow children under three years old to be vaccinated against Covid-19 as a 22-month-old baby girl continues to fight for her life after coming down with the virus.

The baby was flown by helicopter from Lamma where she lives, to the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan after she developed a high fever and was subsequently found to suffer from brain inflammation due to the infection.

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Dr Gladys Kwan, a chief manager of the Hospital Authority said the girl remains in critical condition at the hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit.

The Hong Kong Medical Association said the experts will likely recommend giving both Sinovac and BioNTech jabs to children aged between six months and three years old.

At the daily press conference, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection reported 4,634 new Covid infections and one death yesterday.

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Chuang said 179 of the 4,634 infections were imported and 4,455 were local.

Kwan added that the day’s lone fatality was an 82-year-old unvaccinated man who had hypertension and fatty liver disease.

He was prescribed oral antiviral drugs at a designated clinic on Wednesday but was admitted to hospital two days later after developing cough and fever. He passed away Saturday.

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Kwan also said a total of 1,494 patients were being treated at public hospitals, of which 12 patients were in intensive care.

Testing requirements for staff at public hospitals will be further stepped up, with those assigned to accident and emergency departments being required to do two PCR tests every week, on top of the daily rapid antigen tests (RAT).

The same rule, which is already being followed by staff taking care of high-risk patients, will also apply to their colleagues who do outreach work at care homes.

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“We already cover those colleagues who are taking care of the high-risk group patients, and these plans will continue to expand," Kwan said.

"Starting from next week, we are going to cover all the A&E colleagues as well as those who do outreach work at residential homes. We will review the effectiveness and see if we can further expand.

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Responding to a query on whether relatives of the dancer seriously injured at a MIRROR concert last Friday night have been allowed to visit the patient immediately after flying in from Canada, Kwan said such visits have been allowed throughout the pandemic.

She confirmed that the family members were allowed to go to Queen Elizabeth Hospital where the patient is being treated, not long after they arrived from Toronto earlier on Sunday.