People visit an outdoor PCR testing centre in Hong Kong on Dec 8, 2022. - AFP
HONG KONG (China Daily/Asia News Network): Hong Kong’s daily Covid-19 caseload crossed another mark on Thursday (Dec 8) as it topped 14,000 cases while 27 new deaths were reported.
In a press conference, Undersecretary for Health Libby Lee said cases were “on the rise” with no signs of abating as the city recorded 14,373 new infections.
The last time the number of new cases surpassed 14,000 was on March 22, when 14,152 infections were recorded. On Wednesday, the city had 11,981 new infections and 22 deaths.
In contrast to the previous seven days (Nov 25 to Dec 1), the city’s overall Covid cases over the past seven days grew by 25.5 per cent, of which local infections rose 26.2 per cent while imported cases increased 16.1 per cent, Albert Au, principal medical and health officer of the Communicable Disease Branch of the Centre for Health Protection, said at the same briefing.
The number of deaths also went up by 12.2 per cent, Au said, adding that the number of elderly care homes with infections also rose by 28 per cent while care homes for persons with disabilities the disabled that had cases jumped 33 per cent.
Larry Lee, chief manager (Integrated Clinical Services) of the Hospital Authority, also said at the briefing that among the 3,200 Covid patients being treated in public hospitals, over 90 per cent were elderly people.
Lee stressed the importance of getting vaccinated, noting that 96 per cent of Covid-related deaths involved senior citizens aged 60 or above.
Of the new cases on Thursday, 13,575 were local infections while798 were imported cases, according to the CHP.
The imported cases included 415 that were detected at the Hong Kong International Airport, 287 during days 1 to 3 of their arrival in Hong Kong, and the remaining 96 from the fourth to seventh days.
The 27 new reported deaths brought the city’s toll during the current fifth wave of infections to 10,678, the CHP added.
