By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Lila and Rosa set out to return to school today amid a new surge in Covid-19 cases |
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said at the press briefing Thursday that 10,586 new infections were recorded yesterday, 244 of them imported.
While the daily tally marked a new critical point in the city’s campaign to bring the coronavirus spread under control, Chuang said it did not come as a surprise.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
"We still have an increasing trend of the number of confirmed cases. The number of cases exceeding 10,000 is within our expectation,” said Chuang.
“The proportion of severe and death cases have not yet increased. But of course the absolute number has been increasing because of the increase in the denominator.”
Right now, the biggest concern is how the Hospital Authority could cope with the added burden on the public health care system, she said.
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One of the new measures aimed at easing the problems caused by the rapid increase in cases, especially on children, is to lower the age requirement for the vaccine pass scheme from 12 to five.
All children in the relevant age bracket will now be required to have two doses of a Covid vaccine, while adults should get no less than three jabs.
Chuang said parents will have a two-month grace period starting from today to have their kids vaccinated. The government will announce more details next week.
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| Press for details |
The move comes as the Hospital Authority revealed that another toddler, a girl aged 15 months old, is in hospital in critical condition.
The baby developed a fever on Aug 30 and tested positive on a rapid antigen test. She was taken to the hospital early today with convulsions, and was immediately transferred to the intensive care unit.
HA’s Dr Lau Ka-hin said the convulsions have stopped but the baby is still under observation at the ICU.
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| BASAHIN ANG DETALYE |
Another infected toddler, a boy aged 17 months, remains in critical condition. Lau said a medical examination showed the baby has acute meningitis due to Covid. He remains attached to a tube to help him breathe but his vital signs are all stable.
Also still in critical condition is a girl aged five years and nine months, who has been in hospital since Aug 12.
The three children are among 2,627 Covid patients being treated in hospital. Among them, 48 are now in critical condition and 58 are in serious condition. Fourteen of those listed as critical are in ICU.
Lau reported 11 more deaths, involving five men and six women aged from 78 to 94. They took the death toll in the fifth wave to 9,488.
Seven of the deceased patient were double-jabbed but had yet to receive the booster, and one was unvaccinated.
One of them, an 80-year-old man, is believed to have died from causes other than Covid.
The man was found unconscious at the home for the elderly
where he was residing, and was found to be no longer breathing when taken to
Although face-to-face classes reopened only today, 139 positive cases were reported by 84 schools, involving 113 students and 26 teachers and staff.
In all, more than 550 teachers and students missed the first day of school after testing positive today or in the past few days.
Of the 244 imported cases, 73 were detected at the airport, 81 during the hotel quarantine, and 72 between days 4 and 7 after arrival. There were a further 13 cases found after the seventh day, but they’re believed to be mostly re-positive cases because of the low viral load.
The
