Hong Kong fourth wave: experts worried as more middle-aged coronavirus patients develop severe complications compared to previous outbreaks

Those aged 30 to 69 accounted for over 60 per cent of the seriously or critically ill patients on December 6

Figure stood at 40 to 50 per cent during the peak of the third wave between July 22 and August 7

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There has been a fivefold increase in the number of seriously ill coronavirus patients – from 21 to 110 – in the first 12 days of December. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 7:00am, 17 Dec 2020Updated: 11:20am, 17 Dec 2020

More middle-aged Covid-19 patients are fighting for their lives amid Hong Kong’s ongoing fourth wave of infections compared to the previous outbreaks, an analysis of official data shows, potentially explaining why the city’s public hospitals are facing greater demand for intensive care services.

Medical experts are investigating whether the current coronavirus strain is more virulent than the previous ones, as doctors have been treating more patients – including middle-aged ones – with severe symptoms.

An analysis by the Post found that on December 6, a little over two weeks into the fourth wave, those aged 30 to 69 accounted for more than 60 per cent of the seriously or critically ill patients in hospital, the high point so far for such cases.

The number of active severe cases in that age group gradually increased from five around the beginning of the fourth wave, to a high of 62 on December 12, accounting for 56 per cent of the 110 seriously ill patients in public hospitals at that time.

At the peak of the third wave, which ran from July 22 to August 7, that age group accounted for around 40 to 50 per cent of the seriously or critically ill patients, and 47 such active cases at the worst point.

People queue up at a community testing centre at Kwai Shing West Estate in Kwai Chung to get themselves tested for Covid-19. Photo: Winson Wong

Those aged 80 and above account for less than 20 per cent of the seriously or critically ill patients in the fourth wave so far, lower than the high of 36 per cent observed in the studied period of the previous wave.