1,347 confirmed cases logged, 2k more preliminary

 By The SUN 

Children will now be among those given priority in admission to public hospitals

Health officials have recorded 1,347 Covid-19 cases today, Feb 13, with about 2,000 more testing preliminary positive, including a three-year-old in critical condition.

According to Dr Larry Lee from the Health Authority, the girl was admitted to Prince of Wales Hospital yesterday, before being sent to Children’s Hospital when her condition deteriorated. She is now in intensive care.

Two other patients are said to be in critical condition, while those classified as serious remain at 16.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said there has been a spike in cases among young children in the fifth wave, with around 4% of patients being under the age of four.

Dr Lee said that with public hospitals reaching saturation point, priority for admission will be given to children, the elderly and those in serious condition.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

To free up more hospital beds, patients currently in stable condition at the North Lantau Hospital Infection Control Center will be moved to AsiaWorld Expo. This will allow more elderly and children patients with Covid-19 to be admitted to hospital fast.

As of 9am today, there were 1,300 confirmed patients receiving treatment in 14 public hospitals. There are a further 2,100 patients at Penny’s Bay isolation center, North Lantau ICC, the HA Infectious Disease Centre in Princess Margaret Hospital and AWE.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Dr Lee repeated the advise that infected people who are healthy, young and those showing minor symptoms should remain at home and wait for a call from the HA to be placed in a hospital.

There will be a hotline that they can call, but patients are urged to be considerate and leave the hospital rooms and beds for those who need them more.

In the meantime, the HA will reduce non-emergency services and use resources to help more Covid-19 patients.

CONTACT US!

Lee said the HA does not rule out shutting down some hospitals and turning them into Covid facilities if the situation deteriorates further.

Hospitals might be turned into Covid facilities if the surge in Covid-19 cases continues

The CHP said that for the past two weeks until yesterday, a total of 7,609 coronavirus cases were recorded. The locally acquired cases totaled 7,494 and 115 were imported.

Dr Chuang said the patients ranged in age from 1 month to 104 years old.  Fourteen percent of the cases were under 18 and 11% were aged 65 and above.

Press for details

More than half, or 55%, have taken at least two shots of the vaccine.

Most of the positive patients live in Sha Tin, Sham Shui Po, Tuen Mun. In January the high risk places were Kwai Tsing, Wong Tai Sin and the Outlying Islands.

For patients that tested positive for the Omicron variant, the median age is 39 years old. Fifteen of the cases are under 18 and 10.6% are aged above aged 65.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

The patients who received at least two shots of a vaccine make up 55% of all cases.

For the Delta variant, the median age is 50 years old, and 8.7% of the cases are under 18 and 24% are aged above aged 65. Those who have taken at least two vaccine doses make up 49%.

Dr Chuang also noted that the number of confirmed cases have been doubling every two days for the past week. On Feb 6, there were around 200 cases, on Feb 9 this went up to 400 cases and on Feb 11^th, 800 cases  were recorded.

PADALA NA!

Call us!

HK food supplies to return to normal

Goods trucks carry food imports from China.

The supply of food in Hong Kong is expected to return to normal when deliveries resume due to the opening of new interchange venues for Mainland and Hong Kong goods vehicle drivers, Hong Kong officials said today.

A shortage in fresh vegetables and meat have been felt in Hong Kong since Feb. 8 when deliveries were disrupted due to the closure of an interchange after two cross-border truck drivers tested positive for Covid-19, and other drivers hd to be quarantined.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

In a press statement, the Hong Kong government said the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government opened temporary interchange venues yesterday (February 12) morning. 

 “The Mainland authorities and the HKSAR Government are working closely together to firm up the detailed arrangements to expedite the logistics of food supply for Hong Kong so as to resume the supply situation to normal as soon as possible,” it added. 

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

The new venues will replace the one closed temporarily last Feb. 8 for disinfection.

An earlier press release cited Mainland authorities as saying a cross-boundary goods vehicle driver planning to return to Hong Kong and another driver under the closed-loop management in the Mainland tested positive in Covid-19 nucleic acid tests on Feb. 7.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

The authorities took swab samples and disinfected the interchange premises visited by the drivers. This resulted in other drivers at the venue to be held until epidemic control work had been completed at around 9pm. Those in close contact with the two drivers were held at nearby hotels for quarantine.

To recover from the delays, the operating hours of the control points on both the Guangdong and Hong Kong sides were extended, but a number of northbound goods vehicles drivers who were allowed to leave immediately aborted plans to cross into China and returned to Hong Kong.

CONTACT US!

As a result, deliveries of fresh produce at the wholesale markets were down two-thirds on Feb. 8.

Hong Kong imports 90 per cent of its food supplies from China, according to figures from the Food and Health Bureau.

Press for details

China is the leading source of Hong Kong’s supply of fresh pork, chilled and frozen pork, eggs, as well as fresh, chilled and live chicken.

Hong Kong has an agriculture industry made up of some 2,400 farms employing 4,300 farmers and workers in Hong Kong, producing fresh vegetables, pigs and poultry for local consumption. Its production, however, meets only a small portion of Hong Kong’s needs.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

In 2017, the agriculture sector supplied some $966 million worth of produce, and accounted for less than 0.1% of Hong Kong's Gross Domestic Product, according to a report from the Legislative Council Commission.

PADALA NA!

Call us!

No lockdown planned, Chief Secretary says

By  The SUN

 

CS Lee is flanked by other officials who joined him in talks with their mainland counterparts

Just hours after a top health official said a citywide lockdown was possible if the Covid infection rate continues to climb, Chief Secretary John Lee said no such scenario was being planned.

Speaking at a late-night press briefing Saturday after a day of talks with Shenzhen officials, Lee said the government is confident the promised assistance from the central government would help Hong Kong curb the mounting number of coronavirus cases in the city.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

“At the present moment we don’t have this plan (lockdown) because we believe that with the enhanced measures that we have introduced, it will take its effect because we have just introduced some tighter social distancing measures,” he said.

“Also with the assistance from the mainland we believe that our capability will be increased, and we’ll be seeing positive improvement in those areas.”

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

His comments came after Dr Edwin Tsui, controller of the Centre for Health Protection said during the daily press briefing on the Covid situation in Hong Kong that extreme measures like a lockdown could not be ruled out if the infection rate continued to worsen.

Hong Kong posted yet another record-high 1,514 confirmed infections Saturday, with about the same number of preliminary positive cases. Three new deaths were also reported.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

According to Lee, the Guangdong Province and Shenzhen Municipal Government have assured Hong Kong that it will have enough supply for daily necessities.

Vegetable prices in HK soared after a cross-border truck driver tested positive for Covid-19

Fears mounted in the past few days that food supply from the mainland would be severely reduced after a cross-border truck driver tested positive, holding up deliveries and causing the prices of vegetables in Hong Kong to soar.

In addition, the mainland officials reportedly agreed in principle to extend help to Hong Kong in its effort to contain the spread of Covid-19.

CONTACT US!

The following are the areas where help could be extended:

1. The deployment of mainland experts to help with genetic sequencing
2. Boosting Hong Kong’s testing capacity to about 300,000 per day
3. Construction of more isolation facilities
4. Providing rapid antigen test kits
5. Providing hospital beds, masks and other protective gear.

   

   Press for details

·         According to Lee, five special cross-border task forces will be set up immediately to respond to Hong Kong’s concerns.

·        He gave no specifics about what each group would do, but said that how things are run in the mainland may not be suitable for Hong Kong so adjustments will have to be made.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

·         He also said mainland authorities fully support Hong Kong’s “dynamic zero policy” of infection control.

PADALA NA!

Call us!

Filipina charged with stealing $99k from wheelchair-bound employer

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

Aballe was the alleged victim's constant companion for 8 years

A Filipina domestic helper appeared in Eastern Court on Friday, Feb 11, charged with stealing her elderly employer’s Visa card and using it to deceive him into taking out an overdraft in the amount of $99,000.

Richiebelle A. Aballe, 41 years old, is also accused of stealing the Tudor watch of her employer Chung Chi-kwong who is 91 years old and is mostly confined to a wheelchair, on Dec 15.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

According to the charge sheet, the two alleged thefts happened at Chung’s house on the 30^th floor of Tung Yip House in Lei Tung Estate, Ap Lei Chau.

Aballe is also charged with obtaining property by deception by allegedly using Chung's Hang Seng Bank visa card to take out the ovedraft between October 2019 and October 2021.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

CONTACT US!

However, despite an amount being stated in the charge sheet, prosecutors told Magistrate Ada Yim that the police needed to conduct further investigation into how much money the accused had allegedly taken.

On their application, the magistrate adjourned the case to Apr 8. She also ordered Aballe remanded in custody after being told by her lawyer that no bail application was to be made on her behalf.

Press for details

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

The dimunitive Aballe, a single mother of a grown-up daughter, only looked at the Tagalog interpreter throughout the hearing, and indicated through her that she understood what was going on, before being led away from the dock.

Her employment record shows Aballe had worked for Chung for the past eight years.

PADALA NA!

Call us!

 

Total lockdown not ruled out as Covid-19 cases surge to 1,514

By Daisy CL Mandap

Health officials a citywide lockdown may be considered if the cases continue to mount (File)

Health authorities say further tightening or measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus may be considered if the surge in cases continues unabated.

Dr Edwin Tsui, controller of the Centre for Health Protection, made the statement at today’s press briefing, during which another record-high 1,514 new cases were reported.

Asked what could trigger a citywide lockdown, Dr Tsui said there is no specific number of cases that would prompt the government to take this extreme measure. He said the government will actively review the situation and implement corresponding measures.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

“We are stepping up measures gradually,” he said.

Other moves may also be considered, like locking down a bigger area in each particular district instead of just targeting one residential block, like what happened in Kwai Chung Estate earlier this month.

Another option is to extend the vaccine pass to public transportation, a measure that the government has already submitted to the Executive Council for approval.

Tsui also said that because testing centers are currently overwhelmed, the government has adjusted the criteria for issuing mandatory testing. Residents of a housing block will only be tested now if there were at least two units with two confirmed cases found in the building.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Previously, a single confirmed case could trigger mandatory testing for the entire building where the patient lives.

At the same time, the Hospital Authority will further relax the discharge criteria for Covid-19 patients currently in hospital.

According to HA’s Dr Larry Lee, a patient may now be eligible for discharge if (1) the Ct value in two specimens submitted is 30 or more, (2) the patient tests positive for antibody and returned a negative test result; or (3) has a negative test result and the Ct value of the sample is at least 30.

Pindutin para sa detalye

Dr Lee said a study at City University showed that if the Ct value is 30 or more, the virus could no longer be “cultured”, indicating the patient is no longer infectious.

Tsui says the WHO has told doctors not to treat Covid-19 as just another type of flu

Asked if the government should just relax measures instead and treat Covid-19 as just a form of flu, Dr Hui said this was against the advice by the World Health Organization.

He said the WHO has cautioned doctors against this because the coronavirus keeps mutating, and whatever new form it takes could again present danger to humans.

“So let’s listen to what the WHO is saying,” he said. “We should not underestimate Covid-19.”

CONTACT US!

Dr Tsui said the government is looking at getting help from mainland authority to help boost the city’s testing capacity to around 200,000 per day, and provide more community isolation facilities for patients with mild or no symptoms.

He also said that due to the increasing number of cases, patients who test positive may need to wait a few hours before being sent to the hospital.

If someone is isolating at home, he said everyone in the household must wear masks. They should carefully disinfect their home, and must always store bleach and other disinfecting solutions for this purpose.

Press for details

As much as possible, the person isolating should remain inside a room and avoid any contact with other members of the household. If a separate room cannot be provided, the person should be moved to a quarantine hotel.

At the moment, Tsui said 2,300 people are spending quarantine in eight designated hotels.

Meanwhile, 2,000 units in three phases of Penny’s Bay will soon be vacated to provide room for patients with mild or no symptoms.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

This is expected to release pressure on three treatment centres and 14 public hospitals currently catering to some 2,000 Covid-19 patients, and open up space for those who have tested positive and told to remain at home for the meantime.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said that of today’s confirmed cases, five are imported, and the rest were all locally acquired.

Seventeen had the mutant strain of the Delta variant while the remaining 1,497 are likely Omicron carriers.

She also mentioned that at least seven more elderly homes have been hit with a coronavirus outbreak. In one care home on Boundary Street in Kowloon, 17 residents and six workers have tested preliminary positive.

Dr Lee also reported more medical staff in various hospitals testing positive for Covid-19. He said about 50 staff have tested preliminary positive, with about 20 others, along with 60 patients, being classified as close contacts.

PADALA NA!

Call us!

4-year-old boy among 3 Covid-19 deaths today

By The SUN 

The boy had fever, then vomited, before he was rushed to Pok Oi Hospital where he died

A four-year-old boy who died at Pok Oi Hospital in Yuen Long early this morning was among three Covid-19 fatalities reported today, Feb. 12. The others are both elderly male patients who died days after being admitted to hospital.

Dr. Larry Lee of the Hospital Authority said at today’s press briefing that the boy who did not have any known illness, had fever on Feb. 9. He was taken to the hospital at 1:30pm on Friday, and vomited once, before his condition deteriorated.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

He passed away at 4:16am today, and subsequent tests showed he had the coronavirus. The actual cause of death is being investigated.

Some media reports say the boy’s family, including a five-year-old sister, have also tested positive for Covid-19.

Pindutin para sa detalye

CONTACT US!

Another fatality is a 75-year-old man who passed away at Tuen Mun Hospital at 1:51pm yesterday. He was admitted on Feb 4 and was found positive for Covid-19 on Feb 9.

The third death involved a 98-year-old man who tested positive after being taken to Queen Mary Hospital on Feb 9. He passed away at 7:59 am today.

Press for details

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Dr Lee said, “We are concerned about the children and the elderly because most of them are not vaccinated so they are more vulnerable.”

He said the boy’s case has been referred to the coroner’s court for further investigation into the cause of death.

Today's fatalities took the total death toll from Covid-19 to 221.

Meanwhile, three other patients are in critical condition. Two are unvaccinated while the third had two doses.

A record-high 16 patients are in serious condition in various government-run infection control centres and 14 public hospitals.

PADALA NA!

Call us!