Fourth Covid Wave 'not Abating' As Clusters Grow

Health officials warned on Friday there were no signs the fourth wave of the coronavirus outbreak in Hong Kong was abating as they reported a triple-digit increase in cases.

Of the 112 new infections, 100 were local ones.

Sixty-four of them were linked to previous infections, with 17 added to the dance cluster, 10 to the Fong Shu Chuen Hostel Day Activity Centre/Hostel for the disabled in Shau Kei Wan, and seven to a construction site in LOHAS Park in Tseung Kwan O.

Thirty-six other cases could not be traced, among them two students and a taxi driver.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said the worst is far from over.

“The numbers are still increasing and the number of unlinked cases is still higher than yesterday, so the epidemic is still increasing. So we have not observed any downward trend yet,” she said.

Officials also reported about 80 preliminary positive cases.

One of them involved a 53-year-old patient at Buddhist Hospital at Lok Fu. Health authorities are trying to find out if the case was linked to a nurse who works in the same ward and had come down with the virus earlier.

Meanwhile, health officials said they're still trying to find out how four people who went to concerts held at the Hong Kong Coliseum last month contracted the virus, and whether they were linked.

The four went to local singer Hins Cheung's concerts on different dates and were among the new local cases announced on Friday. They attended the performances on November 22, 27, 28 and 29.

Two of the patients sat on the same row, while another was seated one row behind.

Dr Chuang said among the four cases, the families of two of them had earlier been diagnosed with the virus.

“We cannot ascertain whether this is a cluster or transmission yet. The four cases had different dates of visit to the concert. Two of them had close contacts who had earlier onset [of symptoms] than the two cases. So we’re not sure whether there’s any risk of transmission in this concert," she said.

"That’s why we’re asking the relevant authorities to carry out thorough disinfection just like we usually do. And also we ask them to carry out testing for all the workers and performers. Until then, we will know more about that.”

Meanwhile, two more people have died of Covid-19, raising the city's toll to 112.

Dr Lau Ka-hin, a chief manager with the Hospital Authority, said one of the deceased patients was a 38-year-old man with chronic illnesses, who was also later found to be infected with Type A influenza. He died at Queen Mary Hospital

Lau urged members of the public to take flu jabs, saying research shows that people infected with both flu and the coronavirus could develop more severe symptoms.

Another victim was an 82-year-old woman who passed away at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.