Hong Kong third wave: city tops 4,000 Covid-19 cases as 69 new infections recorded on Saturday amid ‘small outbreaks’
- The newly reported infections, almost all of which were locally transmitted, include ones tied to clusters at MTR depot and a container terminal
- While numbers have dipped in recent days the ‘actual number [of infections] is still very high’, warns top health officials
But while the number of new cases has dipped recently, clusters of infections have expanded to more sectors, including people working at the MTR depot in Kowloon Bay as well as the Kwai Chung Container Terminal, where health officials suggested “small outbreaks” may have occurred.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection, said it was no time for the public to lower their guard.
“Although the number of new infections has slightly decreased, the actual number is still very high”, she said at an afternoon press conference. “There is no place for complacency on social-distancing rules.”
Chuang also stressed it was unclear if the city had passed its peak of infections, as the number of new cases each day still exceeded tallies from the second wave of infections in March.
The city’s overall case total now stands at 4,007, with 47 related deaths. Another 40 to 50 preliminary positives were also recorded on Saturday, officials said, along with two imported infections, both returned from India.
Among the new clusters identified by health authorities was one involving five staff members of the MTR Kowloon Bay Depot, some of whom were previously announced as infected.