New Covid Cases Fall Further To Below 300

Health authorities reported 283 new Covid infections on Monday, the first time that Hong Kong's daily caseload has fallen below the 300 mark in almost three months.

Of the latest cases, 120 were identified by PCR tests and the remaining 163 came from people who took self-tests.

Albert Au from the Centre for Health Protection said 11 infections were imported, adding that authorities are looking into the case of a 45-year-old man who tested positive after completing hotel quarantine.

The patient flew from Thailand to Hong Kong on April 19 and has tested negative for the virus repeatedly, before his result from a community testing centre came back positive on the 12th day since his arrival.

"We can't say whether it is a local or imported case yet. But it could be a local case, as his RAT results have all along been negative, until it was positive on May 1. Because he came back from overseas within the past 14 days, so we would count it as an imported case first, pending genome analysis," Au said.

"If it's an imported case, it could be one with a longer incubation period," he added.

Au also said it would not be surprising to uncover more Covid infections when kindergartens and secondary schools resume in-person learning on Tuesday.

"We expect to pick up some positive cases, because there are still hundreds of infections reported in the community daily, meaning silent transmission chains still exist, and might affect students as well. Many students will be returning to campus and many schools are resuming classes...so we have to manage the risks," he said.

"For kindergarten and secondary school students, it might have been a while since they've done a rapid antigen test, so it's possible to uncover some previous infections."

Another five Covid patients have passed away, including three reported in the past 24 hours.

Separately, the Hospital Authority said it is resuming services at 10 general out-patient clinics across the territory starting from Tuesday, citing the recent developments in the city's coronavirus situation and patients' demand.

It added that the existing 23 designated clinics will continue to treat Covid patients in the community.

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