Covid Not Yet Endemic In Hong Kong: Expert

Government Covid advisor, Lau Yu-lung, said on Saturday that indicators show that the current wave of Covid-19 cases is still on an upward trend and the disease can't yet be considered endemic in Hong Kong.

"HKU's reproduction rate for the virus was 1.7 a few days ago...as Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan [from the Centre for Health Protection] said, it's possible that the tally will double in around two weeks. It may be 6,000 or 7,000 in August," he told a radio programme.

"Whether it will peak at 10,000 cases a day or a bit more and then go down will depend on the people and the government."

Lau said Covid can't yet be considered endemic in the territory, and any change of anti-Covid strategy would need to be explained clearly.

"The pandemic is not over and we're far from the endemic situation... there needs to be a process, which every country and region go through at a different pace. Hong Kong is the midpoint between the mainland and Western countries in term of the pace of reaching endemic [status]."

He said he's concerned that the public healthcare system would come under pressure should a large outbreak occur, noting that around one in every ten elderly people or children infected with Covid now require medical care at hospitals.

Mike Kwan of the University of Hong Kong echoed his views, saying a growing number of children are being admitted to hospital after contracting Covid.

The assistant professor of paediatrics said hospital beds were in short supply and he called on parents to get their children vaccinated.

Health authorities on Friday reported 4,090 new local Covid infections and 180 imported cases. Officials said another six Covid patients had died.

As of Friday, 1,257 Covid patients were being treated in public hospitals, and two of them were in intensive care.