By Daisy CL Mandap
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| CHP says the record daily tally includes 32k positive results from rapid tests |
Hong Kong health authorities have reported a total of
58,757 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, including 32,776 that were reported by
patients who tested positive using rapid antigen test (RAT) kits.
The remaining 25,991 infections had been confirmed through
PCR or nucleic acid tests conducted by public and private laboratories.
The city’s total Covid-19 tally now stands at 585,937.
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The cumulative total is the highest daily tally ever
posted for a single day, although previously, the cases that were confirmed
only came from PCR tests.
Dr Albert Au of the Centre for Health Protection said
that about 9,700 rapid test results were from Mar 6, the day before a platform
for reporting RAT infections was set up.
In due time he said the reported daily results will
better reflect the actual cases that are confirmed, both from PCR and rapid
tests.
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Hospital Authority’s Dr Sara Ho said 195 with Covid died in public hospitals on Tuesday, while 95 more deaths had occurred earlier but were not reported on time.
CHP said another 76-year-old woman with chronic illness who was found dead at home on Mar 7 was found to carry the virus in the morgue.
Ninety-eight of those who died yesterday came from
care homes, and 178 were aged 65 years old and above. Nearly 75%, or 145, did
not receive any vaccination; 30 had one vaccine dose, 15 had two doses, and 1
had three.
The youngest fatality, a 41-year-old woman, fainted at
home and was found to have brain hemorrhage when she was taken to hospital. She
tested positive at the hospital before she died.
Nine other patients who were below 60 years old had
chronic diseases like cancer or epilepsy, or required long-term care.
The number of Covid-related fatalities stood at 2,869. Of these 2,656 occurred in the fifth wave of the infection.
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Of the 8,883 patients still being treated at public
hospitals, 68 are in critical condition and 107 are in serious condition.
Ho confirmed an announcement made earlier in the day
by HA director Tony Ko that 1,500 beds at Queen Elizabeth Hospital will be used
to treat Covid patients from Mar. 13.
Other hospitals, like Ruttonjee and Kowloon Hospital,
could be similarly transformed in future, depending on need
The conversion of QE to an all-Covid hospital is said
to be part of the new strategy to reduce the number of infections and
fatalities.
Later in the day the government also sent out an emergency
alarm with a message telling residents in both English and Chinese about the
conversion of Queen Elizabeth Hospital into a designated Covid-19 facility.
The message alert was meant to remind the public not
to proceed to the hospital unless in an emergency or to take a Covid-19 patient
for treatment.
The alert system was launched in November 2020 to
notify the public via mobile phone networks about emergency situations, such as
extreme weather events.
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