Hong Kong Sees 4,376 New Covid Cases

Hong Kong on Thursday recorded 4,376 new Covid cases, including 196 imported infections, with health officials renewing their appeal for the public to get vaccinated in light of what they described as a worrying increase in people who need hospital treatment.

At a press briefing, Hospital Authority chief manager Gladys Kwan said more than 200 Covid patients had been admitted to hospital on each of the past two days, adding that this is several dozen more than the daily average a few weeks ago.

She said more than half of those admitted on Thursday were aged above 60 and about 20 were toddlers.

“People in these two age groups have relatively weaker immunity. If they are infected, it’s more likely for them to develop serious illnesses or die. The most effective way to prevent that is to inoculate them against Covid,” she said.

At present, 1,542 Covid patients are being treated in hospital, including seven in intensive care.

There has been one more Covid-related death, that of an 85-year-old woman.