A man looks out onto Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong on July 22, 2022.
(ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP)
HONG KONG – Hong Kong recorded 4,376 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and one more elderly death, bringing the city’s toll during the fifth wave to 9,342.
The new cases comprised 4,180 local infections and 196 imported cases, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection, said at a news briefing as she urged residents to get vaccinated
The new cases comprised 4,180 local infections and 196 imported cases, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection
“With three (vaccine) doses, the mortality rate is 0.04 percent. For totally unvaccinated patients, the death rate is 2.88 percent. That is a diffirence of over 70 times,” Chuang said.
“We have more deaths from people above 80 years old. We have 6,600 cases,” she added.
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Of the 198 imported cases on Thursday, 68 were confirmed at the airport, 98 at quarantine hotels, and 30 after they had finished their quarantine and got tested.
Twenty-eight were from the United Kingdom, 21 from India, 14 from the United States, and 12 each from Singapore and Thailand. The rest were from 38 other countries.
Chuang also said 231 schools reported 230 students and 57 teaching staff members being infected while five residential care home for the elderly and one for the persons with disabilities reported cases. Three schools suspended some in-person classes due to infections.
Gladys Kwan, Chief Manager (Clinical Effectiveness and Technology management) of the Hospital Authority, said in the same briefing that the unvaccinated patient who died was 85 years old and also had hypertension and thyroid problems.
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Kwan expressed concern as the number of newly admitted COVID-19 patients reached 210 on Thursday, up from 201 the day before.
“This is the second day that it’s above 200,” Kwan said, adding that a total of 1,542 patients were being treated in public hospitals.