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| Two more seafarers from the Philippines tested positive on arrival today at HK airport |
There has been no let-up in the surge of new Covid-19 cases
in Hong Kong , with 118 new infections reported
today, Jul 29.
The new cases brought the city’s total tally to 3,003.
It’s the seventh day in a row that the number of new cases
each day has exceeded 100.
Of the new cases, five were imported, and three of them were
seafarers, two from the Philippines ,
and one from India United States
and Ethiopia
Shipping crew have been dominating the list of imported
cases since they were required to submit to mandatory testing on arrival in
Hong Kong on Jul 8.
Inevitably, many of those who test positive are Filipinos,
as they make the most number of seafarers around the world. But they still account for a small percentage of the daily infections recorded in Hong Kong.
As of today, air and sea crew were also required to submit a
negative result for a swab test conducted 48 hours prior to boarding their
flight to Hong Kong .
But the three who tested negative should have arrived before
the new rules took effect, as the cut-off time for inclusion to the daily list
of confirmed cases is midnight the previous day.
Within the past 24 hours, two more deaths were recorded,
both involving elderly patient, which brought the total fatality toll to 24.
Seventeen of these deaths occurred within this month.
A 76-year-old female patient at Queen Elizabeth
Hospital
She was admitted on Jun 30 due to shortness of breath and
heart failure, and had shared a ward with another elderly patient who was found
to have Covid-19.
Another patient, an 85-year-old man,
died yesterday afternoon at Pamela
Youde Nethorsole
Hospital
He was the fifth former elderly patient
from the virus-plagued Kong Tai Care for the Aged Center
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| Health officials have again said the elderly should avoid going out as they are most vulnerable |
The deaths prompted a new warning from
health officials for the elderly to remain at home, and for their family
members to ensure they are safe.
Hospital Authority chief manager Sara
Ho also renewed an appeal for Covid-19 patients who have been asked to remain
at home pending their transfer to hospitals, to remain patient.
Ho said the hospitals remain
overwhelmed, despite the transfer of more than 350 patients from isolation
rooms to tier-2 beds in isolation wards, and the treatment facility in Lei Yue
Mun.
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| Tunghayan ang isa na namang Kwentong Dream Love |
She said around 100 patients are still waiting to be admitted to hospital even after more than 300 beds have been freed up because it takes time to prepare the isolation rooms for the next patients.
By next Saturday, she said the
treatment facility at the AsiaWorld-Expo should start accepting between 20-30
younger patients with minor symptoms for check-up.
Around 100 beds will be available initially,
but the intake will gradually increase, as the facility can accommodate as many
as 500 patients.
Dr Chuang Shuk-wan of the Centre for
Health Protection said meanwhile that the four quarantine facilities have a
total of 2,600 units, and about half of them are currently occupied.
Of today’s 113 locally acquired cases,
she said 67 were linked to previous infections, mostly involving family members
and friends. The sources of the 56 other cases are still being investigated.
Among the biggest cluster of cases
were the six confirmed infections at the Cornwall Elderly Home in Tuen Mun.
Four of these are staff, and two are residents.
There
were also two nurses at the Po Chung Cheun Ying Home for the Elderly who
tested positive; along with another nurse at the Hong Kong Society for the
Blind, and staff at King Fok Nursing Home in Lee Cheng Uk
There were also four new confirmed
cases linked to the Kin Shing construction company, where up to 17 previous
infections were recorded.
However, Chuang rejected a claim that
there is an outbreak at construction sites, saying there have been more cases
linked to restaurants, including a new one at the Fulum Restaurant in Tuen Mun.
Ho reported that four support staff at
Princess Margaret Hospital
Six close contacts of the ward staff
have been quarantined, as well as 10 of their colleagues who shared meals with
them. The other staff in the ward wore adequate PPEs and were not considered as
close contacts.
