A girl wearing a face shield and mask plays on the sidewalk in Tsuen Wan West, Hong Kong, on April 23, 2022. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong recorded 10,683 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday as health authorities detected a new hospital cluster in Tsuen Wan.

The new cases comprised 10,490 local infections and 193 imported cases, Albert Au Ka-wing, principal medical and health officer of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, said in a press briefing. 

Larry Lee Lap-yip, chief manager (Integrated Clinical Services) of the Hospital Authority, said in the same press briefing that the eight COVID patients who passed away included four men and four women aged  59 to 102 years old. Six of them were not fully vaccinated

The suspected Omicron BA.4 or BA.5 subvariant cases accounted for 64.4 percent of new infections, compared to 63.1 percent yesterday while eight new deaths brought the city’s toll during the fifth wave to 9,511.

“The daily caseload increased from 5,000 in early August to 10,000 now. So in the short run, we do expect this upward trend to continue,” Au said.

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He noted that, according to the University of Hong Kong, the effective reproduction number of COVID-19 cases in the city stood at 1.35.

“If it goes beyond 1, that means one person can infect more than one person so we do expect the daily caseload to further increase,” Au said, adding that that there was also an upward trend in the viral load of sewage samples that were collected recently.

“So far, there is no evidence that we’ve entered a plateau so we must not let our guard down,” he said.

Of the 193 imported cases, 75 were confirmed at the airport, 44 in quarantine hotels, and 74 in community testing centers.

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Au said 29 came from India, 21 each from the United States and the Philippines, 19 from the United Kingdom, and 13 from Thailand. The rest were from 43 other countries.

Eight residential care homes for the elderly reported 10 new cases while one for people with disabilities had one new infection, he added. 

Larry Lee Lap-yip, chief manager (Integrated Clinical Services) of the Hospital Authority, said in the same press briefing that the eight COVID patients who passed away included four men and four women aged  59 to 102 years old. Six of them were not fully vaccinated.

Lee also said that three male patients, aged 64 to 83, and a staff member at the medical ward of Yan Chai Hospital in Tsuen Wan were confirmed to be infected with the virus. 

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“The three patients shared a cubicle with an 84-year-old male patient who had earlier tested positive. The three patients are in stable condition and all staff and patients will undergo testing,” he said.

Lee added 2,793 COVID patients were being treated in public hospitals as of Sunday, including 355 new cases.

Sixty-four were in critical condition, including 18 receiving intensive care, while 54 were in serious condition, he added.