People visit a promenade next to Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong on March 31, 2022. (DALE DE LA REY / AFP)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong reported 290 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, including 37 that involved students, bringing the city’s tally during the fifth wave of the pandemic to 1.192 million.

Albert Au Ka-wing, principal medical and health officer of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, said in a press briefing that the new cases comprised 21 imported infections and 269 local 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 that the new cases comprised 21 imported infections and 269 local cases

He added 132 were confirmed through nucleic acid tests and 158 by rapid antigen tests. Tuesday’s figure is slightly higher than the 283 infections reported on Monday. 

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Au said 37 students and eight school staff members from 42 schools also tested positive for the virus before going to school as over 1,900 kindergartens and secondary schools started gradually resuming classes on Tuesday.

“Out of the 45 cases, 18 tested positive this morning. So, this is within our expectation,” Au said, adding that the other infections were detected in the “past few days”. 

He said the cases were reported by 42 schools, including 3 kindergartens, 23 primary schools, 14 secondary schools, and two special schools.

“We have not found any link..The pandemic is stabilizing and there is a slow decline,” Au said.

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He said the 21 imported cases included 13 infections detected at the airport from Malaysia, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, and Singapore. Six cases were found during quarantine, including two cases from the United States.

Larry Lee Lap-yip, chief manager (Integrated Clinical Services) of the Hospital Authority, said at the same briefing that four men and two women aged 70 to 90 years old and infected with the virus died in the last 24 hours. One of them came from a residential care home.

Lee also said that an 86-year-old male patient passed away on May 1, bringing the tally during the fifth wave to 91,112.

He added that 1,250 patients were being treated in public hospitals, the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre, and the AsiaWorld-Expo community treatment center. 

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Two were in critical condition, one in serious condition, while seven were also in critical condition and were being treated in intensive care units, Lee said.