By The SUN
Parents are urged to get their children jabbed so they can avoid getting infected or suffer from serious symptoms
There has been a surge in Covid infections reported from schools, with 3,444 being logged over the weekend and Monday, but health officials say the rise in cases is within their expectations.
The school-linked cases made up a third of the 10,021 new Covid cases reported today, 152 of them imported.
A record total of 1,169 schools reported infections, involving 2,864 students and 580 teaching staff. Some classes had to be suspended for a week in 737 schools where at least two cases had been reported.
But Dr Albert Au of the Centre for Health Protection said there is no plan to again suspend face-to-face classes because of the surge in infections within schools.
“It is predictable that cases in schools see an increasing trend due to the new academic semester started,” Au said.
“The government is not willing to suspend the in-person class mode again since it is of significance to students’ physical and mental health,” he added.
But he advised students not to forget to take their daily rapid test to help fight the spread of the virus on campus.
Au also appealed to the public not to attend or hold large family gatherings during the Mid-Autumn Festival to prevent cases from piling up some more.
Dr Larry Lee of the Hospital Authority reported eight related deaths, but said half of these are believed to be not directly caused by Covid. They involved five men and three women aged 56 to 104.
Three of the deceased patients did not complete three doses of a vaccine, while two did not get jabbed at all.
Among those whose deaths are believed to be not due to Covid was that of a 56-year-old woman who had terminal cancer, but was tested positive on admission to hospital shortly before she passed away. She was one of those who completed three jabs.
Lee said more than 2,900 Covid patients are now receiving treatment in hospital after 271 new cases were added to the list.
They include 63 who are listed in critical condition, of whom 26 are in intensive care. A further 60 patients are in serious condition.
Meanwhile, the
No other country was listed as having 10 or more cases.
Of the 152 infected travelers, 66 were detected at the airport, 36 in quarantine hotels, and 50 between days four and seven. A further 14 tested positive after the seven-day isolation period, but are believed to be all re-positive cases.
