By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Targeted lockdowns continue as experts see a surge in cases every 3 days (File) |
Hong Kong has posted more than 6,000 confirmed
Covid-19 cases, about 2,000 less than the actual number of positive test
results reported on Tuesday, said health authorities. Thirty-nine patients were
also reported to have died, mostly elderly.
Speaking at the daily press briefing on the latest
coronavirus situation in Hong Kong, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for
Health Protection said the number of positive cases confirmed over the past 24
hours was 6,211.
However, this did not appear to reflect the actual
number of cases, as the total number of positive cases reported, said Dr
Chuang, was 8,013.
Of the total confirmed cases three were imported and
the rest were all local acquired. Thirty-one carried the Delta strain while the rest were suspected Omicron cases.
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She noted that between the 126 cases reported on Feb.
1 and the total tally of 8,013 reported on Feb 21 there had been an exponential
increase of 64 times.
“So on average, there is an exponential rise every
three days,” she said, emphasizing the severity of the situation.
She admitted there were also over 9,300 preliminary
positive cases, but these no longer reflect the true numbers because of the
long delays in sending the specimens for confirmation.
“So those preliminary positive numbers are cumulative
numbers that have not been confirmed,” she said. “We noticed some of those
cases were reported a few days ago.”
Dr Lau Ka-hin, chief manager of the Hospital
Authority, said 39 Covid-related deaths were reported as of 9am in the morning.
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Thirty-two of the patients passed away on Monday,
comprising 17 males and 15 females, while seven – five males and two females -
died on Sunday but there was a delay in reporting their cases.
They took Hong Kong’s death toll in public hospitals
to 145, which included two toddlers aged 3 and 4, as well as an 11-month old
baby girl.
The latest patients were aged from 45 to 103, the
oldest recorded death linked to Covid-19 in Hong Kong.
Dr Lau said majority of them were elderly, while some,
like the youngest patient, had chronic illnesses. Almost all were not
vaccinated, he added.
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A total of 3,799 patients are being treated at three
infection control centers at North Lantau Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital
and AsiaWorld Expo, as well as public hospitals.
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| Many of the more serious cases are treated at the North Lantau Hospital Infection Control Centre |
A further 1,900 or so patients with mild or no symptoms are staying at Penny’s Bay Isolation Centre and more than 250 others at Dorsett Tsuen Wan isolation facility.
Dr Lau thanked St Paul’s Hospital for agreeing to
reserve 20 of its beds for recovering, non-Covid patients from public
hospitals, saying it set a good example for private hospitals lending a hand to
the government in containing the surge in cases.
He also hit out at a video being spread on social
media which he said was meant to disparage the work of health care workers at a
time when they are struggling to cope with the most severe wave of the
epidemic.
He said a total of 873 hospital staff have been
infected with the virus in the current wave, mostly from community
transmissions.
“Our colleagues are facing a difficult time and we ask for your understanding,” he said. “If there had been shortcomings we apologize.”
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