Daily Covid Figure Tops 1,000 For Third Day Straight

Hong Kong's daily Covid caseload has remained above the 1,000 mark for the third straight day, with a police unit among several emerging clusters in the city.

Health authorities said on Friday there were a total of 1,145 new coronavirus infections – 1,014 of which were local cases.

There was also one additional Covid-related death, involving a terminal cancer patient.

When asked to confirm a reported outbreak within the police's counter terrorism unit, Albert Au from the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) would only say that 20 officers working in the same department had tested positive for the coronavirus, and that they had not been in frequent contact with members of the public.

Meanwhile, four more care homes each reported one infection, while a construction site in Ho Man Tin saw three more workers coming down with Covid.

Au also noted that there were 145 new cases reported among 126 schools.

Larry Lee from the Hospital Authority, meanwhile, said officials will be able to mobilise hospital beds and community treatment facilities within a short period of time if Hong Kong sees a surge in Covid infections.

"We have a roster so that we can have a plan [to] open up the AsiaWorld-Expo community treatment centre within 72 hours. And also we can increase the ward capacity of the Hong Kong ICC (Infection Control Centre) in 24 to 48 hours," he said.