Coronavirus: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam declares third wave under control
- City has ‘basically contained’ months-long rush of infections after ‘hard-fought battle’, chief executive says
- Downward trend for new infections continues on Friday with only two cases confirmed, both from traceable sources
“After a hard-fought battle of more than two months, Hong Kong has basically contained the third wave of the Covid-19 epidemic which started in early July,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor wrote on Facebook.
The confirmation of Friday’s local cases marked the first time in three weeks the city had not recorded any new imported infections, and came as Hong Kong Disneyland became the latest attraction to re-emerge from coronavirus shutdown.
But the death toll increased again when an 84-year-old man, who had battled the coronavirus for more than two months while suffering long-term illness, emerged as the city’s 105th fatality of the crisis when he succumbed to his health problems on Friday afternoon in Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The Centre for Health Protection said the two confirmed cases, which pushed the city’s coronavirus case tally to 5,058, were both men and linked to previously known infections. The last day on which only local cases were recorded was September 5.