People enjoy the breeze on the waterfront in Repulse Bay, Hong Kong on June 26, 2022. (CHINADAILYHK.COM)
HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s daily COVID-19 caseload continued to hover around 10,000 as health authorities reported 16 more deaths over the past day.
Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection, said at a news briefing that there were 10,194 new cases, comprising 10,030 local infections and 164 imported ones.
The financial hub reported 9,373 new cases on Tuesday and 10,021 cases on Monday.
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Of the 164 imported cases, 71 were confirmed at the airport, 46 in quarantine hotels, and 47 in community testing centers.
Eleven residential care homes for the elderly and persons with disability reported a total of 16 new cases, affecting 15 residents and one employee
Chuang said 24 came from the United Kingdom, 17 from India, 16 from the Philippines, 15 from Thailand and 12 from the United States. The rest were from 29 other countries.
Eleven residential care homes for the elderly and persons with disability reported a total of 16 new cases, affecting 15 residents and one employee.
Chuang added that 799 schools reported 1,140 students and 221 teaching staff members testing positive. Twenty-two schools had to suspend a total of 24 in-person classes for one week due to infections.
Larry Lee Lap-yip, chief manager (Integrated Clinical Services) of the Hospital Authority, said in the same press briefing that the 16 COVID patients who passed away included 12 men and four women aged 47 to 99 years old. Seven of them were not fully vaccinated.
Lee said the HA believed that six of them, including the 47-year-old man who suffered from diabetes and hypertension, did not die due to COVID. The 16 new deaths brought the city’s toll during the fifth wave of infections to 9,144.
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He added that 2,870 COVID patients were being treated in public hospitals as of Wednesday, including 342 new cases.
The authorities planned to increase the number of beds at the AsiaWorld-Expo treatment center after the Mid-Autumn Festival to cater to the increasing number of patients, according to Lee.
There are currently 240 beds at the center dedicated to COVID patients with mild or no symptoms.