Hong Kong third wave: city confirms fresh daily high of 149 new Covid-19 cases, one more death
- It is the ninth day in row the city has registered 100-plus new infections, pushing the case tally to 3,151
- Record-breaking infection figures come as government makes U-turn by reversing full-day ban on eating in restaurants
Hong Kong’s deadliest wave of Covid-19 infections showed no signs of easing on Thursday as the city reported a new daily record of 149 cases along with another death, while the virus continued to spread in public hospitals and into an additional elderly care home.
The latest figures pushed the city’s tally of confirmed coronavirus cases to 3,151 with 25 related fatalities. Of the new cases, 145 were local infections and health authorities had not been able to trace the origins of 61 of those.
There were four new imported cases, three of them seamen from India and the other an aircrew member who recently entered Hong Kong from the Philippines.
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The tally of infections is expected to climb further, with the health authorities reporting about 70 other people tested preliminarily positive on Thursday, including those staying on general wards of North District Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Caritas Medical Centre.
An 80-year-old resident of Tsz Wan Shan died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Thursday after catching the virus.
“The incubation period of Covid-19 can be as long as 14 days so we need some time to observe the trend. It’s now a bit too early to conclude whether the measures [introduced in July] are effective,” he said.