The SUN HK : HK records biggest number of Covid cases in 3 months

By The SUN

Ho says hospitals are cutting back on non-emergency services to cope with the rise in Covid cases

Hong Kong has recorded 3,674 new Covid-19 infections, the highest since the fifth wave of the pandemic started easing in early April.

Five related deaths were also reported Thursday, raising the death toll from the same period to 9,214.

The steadily increasing caseload has led health authorities to warn that the provision of services in public hospitals could be disrupted further.

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Yesterday, Hospital Authority’s Dr Sara Ho said they had started adjusting the number of non-emergency surgeries that they provide to cope with the increase in admissions of Covid patients.

Separately, Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau said that if the current trend continues there will be about 10,000 Covid patients in hospitals by September, when the current outbreak peaks.

At today’s press briefing Ho said that 1,060 Covid patients are now confined in public hospitals and the infection control centre at North Lantau Hospital.

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Among them, 20 are in critical condition, 23 are in serious condition, and eight are in hospital intensive care units.

Of today’s new cases all except 257 were locally acquired.

The imported cases included 117 which were identified at the airport, 119 at designated quarantine hotels, and the remaining 21 were caught post-isolation.

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More than half, or 75, of all cases detected at the airport had come from the United Kingdom, indicating the severity of the infection in the country. In the past several days, the number of cases from the UK had been in the 50-60 range.

As part of measures aimed at controlling the spread of the virus, all patients undergoing home quarantine will be made to wear electronic bracelets from Friday, to ensure that they stay put in their houses.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection also said that those who fail to get a negative PCR test result at the Shenzhen Bay port on the way to the mainland will be immediately issued an isolation order and sent to a community isolation facility.

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This followed reports that people who test positive at the border crossing are being told to leave the area on their own.

"To improve and to strengthen the management of these cases, we'll require all departing passengers to be sent to community isolation facilities for those who have a positive quick PCR," said Chuang.

The CHP said it received reports of 355 new cases from 292 schools today. Four schools will suspend certain classes for a week after more than two cases were recorded in each class.