By Daisy CL Mandap
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| The daily infection rate has gone down but is still over 20,000 |
The total number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 in the
Omicron-fueled fifth wave has gone past the one million mark Friday, with
deaths also rising to beyond 5000.
The updated figures were announced today by Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the
Centre for Health Protection, who reported a daily infection tally of 20,082
which was slightly lower than the previous day’s 21,650.
The day’s total included 7,966 detected from PCR tests and 12,116 from
rapid antigen tests. Three were imported cases, involving two travelers from
Vietnam and one from Indonesia.
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They took Hong Kong’s total Covid-19 tally to 1,004,313.
A total number of 259 deaths in public hospitals were reported along with
six who died at home and were tested positive for Covid-19 at the morgue.
Including these, the death toll from the fifth wave has now risen to
5,188 for a death rate of 0.5%.
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Among the recorded fatalities were 21 who died outside of hospitals. Dr
Chuang was quick to add that the deaths were not all due to Covid-19 but the
deceased were infected with the virus when they died.
The patients were aged 11 months to 112 years old, with 85 as the median
age. An overwhelming majority, or 95.4% of the deaths were aged 60 and above.
Among those who died, 89% were not vaccinated.
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Dr Lau Ka-hin of the Hospital Authority said the newly recorded deaths
included 206 who passed on Thursday and an additional 53 cases which happened
between Mar 1 and 16 and were not reported on time.
The latest cases included 122 males and 84 females aged 25 to 106 years
old. All of the fatalities below 65 years old, including the youngest, had
pre-existing chronic illnesses like cancer, renal failure and heart disease.
The 53 additional deaths involved 30 males and 23 females aged 62 to 103
years old.
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As of the latest records 10,533 patients are currently being treated in
public hospitals and the community isolation and treatment facility at
AsiaWorld-Expo.
Of these patients, 65 are in critical condition and 115 are in serious
condition. There are 115 patients in intensive care.
Undersecretary for Food and Health Dr Chui Tak-yi said the Omicron-fueled fifth wave has been going on for more than two months now.
The number of infections has exceeded capacity, so the government had to expand
services and build more facilities for the sick.
Among these were the five new isolation centers that opened recently and
three similar facilities for the elderly who are recovering but still need to
be looked after.
Chui thanked the Mainland government for sending medical personnel to provide
much-needed assistance to HA staff who are tending to the thousands who are in
public hospitals.
