By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Many businesses have shut for the meantime amid fears of further spike in cases |
Health officials reported a third consecutive drop in
coronavirus cases Monday. A total of 25,150 confirmed cases were reported from
PCR tests conducted by government and private laboratories, down nearly 6,000 from
yesterday’s tally and by more than half since last week.
Of the total number, 32 were imported, and 35 arrived
on board Garuda flight GA876 from Indonesia, prompting the two-week suspension
of the flight.
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Hong Kong’s total infection figure from the fifth wave
has now risen to 484,136.
At the same time, the Centre for Health Protection
announced that a platform for reporting positive results from rapid antigen
tests (RATs) would be launched today to give the government a better
understanding of the extent of the infection in the city.
It is feared a big underreporting of cases has
occurred because the reported daily figures announced by the government come
only from PCR tests and do not include those from RATs which have been used
extensively by residents for the past two weeks at least.
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Meanwhile, the positive outlook was dampened by a new
record death toll from Covid-19.
The Hospital Authority’s Dr Sara Ho said 161 deaths
were recorded in the past 24 hours alone, while an additional 119 cases that occurred
a few days earlier were not added on time.
The 280 additional cases raised the city’s death toll from
the fifth wave to 2,074.
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Ho also reported the deaths of two young girls early today, whose cases will be added to tomorrow’s tally. She said both
girls had pre-existing health conditions and had a dose each of Sinovac vaccine
last month.
The first girl who was 8, had thyroid issues and was taken to a
private hospital with a fever and headache yesterday. A rapid test at the
hospital showed she was positive for Covid-19 but she was just given medicines
and was sent home.
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At 7am today her parents noticed her condition had
worsened and had her rushed to Queen Mary Hospital by ambulance. She passed away
at 8:28 this morning.
The second girl, aged four years old, had a congenital heart disease and was
taken to Queen Mary at 2am this morning after she started vomiting. She had no
heart beat when she arrived at the hospital but emergency staff managed to
resuscitate her briefly. She was declared dead at 9:35am.
Among today’s 161 fatalities, 147 were aged 65 years
old and above, and 96 came from care homes. 106 were males and 55 were females,
aged 29 to 109.
Those who did not have any vaccine at all totaled 106,
while 21 had a jab each, 13 had two doses and one had three doses.
Among the relatively young fatalities were: (1) a
29-year-old female whose cancer had metastasized; (2) a 36-year-old female who
had a thyroid problem and collapsed at home on Mar 5. She had no heartbeat when
she arrived at the hospital but was briefly revived; (3) a 45-year-old male who
was undergoing dialysis; (4) a 49-year-old female who also had late-stage
cancer.
The additional 119 fatalities were made up of 76 males
and 43 females aged 50 to 101.
Ho said that of the 8,010 patients being treated in
public hospitals 75 were in critical condition with 68 in ICU, while 106 are in
serious condition.
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| Two doctors each from CHP and HA were at today's press briefing |
An equally big
number, or 90.6% were either not vaccinated at all, or had incomplete
vaccination. The ratio rises to 93.1% for those aged 80 and above.
Au said that from
the data, it could be seen that those who did not get vaccinated were 8 times
more likely to die from Covid-19 than those who had been jabbed. The difference
was more marked for those aged 80 and above.
He also reported
that 18 more residential care homes have reported infections; 11 of them house
elderly residents while seven cater to the disabled. Those who tested positive
involved 69 residents and 43 staff.
A total of 673
elderly homes and 220 homes for the disabled have now been stricken with
Covid-19. The number of infected residents has gone up to 14,700 while more
than 4,000 staff have been affected.
CHP controller Dr
Edwin Tsui reported that the long-awaited portal for registering positive
results from RATs would be uploaded starting at 6pm today. The website address
is www.chp.gov.hk/RATP.
He said reporting
RAT results is not mandatory, but he was hoping people would sign up with the platform
to help give the government a better idea of the extent of infection in the
fifth wave.
Those who tested
RAT-positive on Mar 6 and 7 are being encouraged to register their personal
particulars and those living with them in the same household so they could be
given immediate medical assistance if needed.
Those who tested
positive between Feb 26 and Mar 5 are given a week to sign up and provide
information.
Those who have
difficulty accessing the website may also contact the hotline, 1839 119, and
enter their HKID number through an automated system.
Since the number is
expected to be busy given the thousands of people who would most likely try to
gain access, online registration is being encouraged.
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