Covid Tally Below 20,000 Second Day In A Row

Health officials reported 14,149 new Covid-19 infections on Sunday, the second straight day the tally was below the 20,000-threshold in the past three weeks.

Among the latest cases, 8,273 were reported by people who took rapid tests and 5,876 were confirmed via PCR tests.

All but four were local cases.

The Centre for Health Protection's Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan cited a number of factors that could have contributed to a drop in infections, such as the outbreak having already peaked, many people getting vaccinated and social-distancing measures having their effect.

Still, she called on the public to stay alert, saying a rebound is possible if they engage in social activities frequently, as there are still a lot of infected people in the community.

Meanwhile, authorities said there were 246 additional deaths, including 41 that were previously unreported.

More than 80 percent of the 205 Covid patients who died on Saturday were either unvaccinated or had only got one jab.

Dr Lau Ka-hin from the Hospital Authority said among the deceased were four younger patients, aged between 44 and 58. He said they suffered from chronic illnesses like liver cirrhosis, diabetes, kidney failure and lung cancer.

There are now a total of 1,035,059 Covid infections and 5,683 deaths in the Omicron outbreak in Hong Kong.

Lau also said from Sunday, a private medical organisation will start taking care of patients at the Tsing Yi community isolation facility, taking over the medical post there from Hospital Authority staff.

"It's not difficult because they are doctors and they are nurses, they have full knowledge about how to take care of the patients in the isolation facilities because most of the citizens who are living in the isolation facilities have no or very mild symptoms."

The Hospital Authority said the move will free up its staff to take up anti-epidemic work elsewhere.

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