New Covid Cases Drop Slightly To 2,492

Hong Kong on Friday reported a slight drop in the number of new coronavirus cases to 2,492, but authorities said the figure could rebound as a voluntary three-day self-test exercise begins.

Officials said 1,227 of the new cases were confirmed via PCR tests in laboratories, while 1,265 were reported by people who took rapid self-tests.

Albert Au of the Centre for Health Protection said the level of infections had been on a downward trend in the past three weeks.

However, he noted that preliminary figures collected on Friday via an online platform showed more people are reporting their positive rapid test results, after the government asked everyone to self-test for Covid for three consecutive days.

The Hospital Authority, meanwhile, reported that another 86 people with Covid have died – 70 of them passed away at public hospitals in the past day.

So far, more than 1.17 million people in Hong Kong have been confirmed with Covid and 8,430 have died in this Omicron outbreak, with a fatality rate of 0.72 percent.

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USEFUL LINKS General Covid-19 situation: https://www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/

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RAT reporting platform:

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Hotline for Covid-positive patients: 1836 115