Coronavirus: Hong Kong reports more than 17,000 Covid-19 cases as expert urges city to lift flight bans, boost vaccination among children

Officials record 17,269 ‘reported infections’ while 8,798 new cases are confirmed, taking the official tally to 84,046

Professor Gabriel Leung, of the University of Hong Kong, says it makes no sense to keep flight bans in place when the risk of local infection is so high

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A leading Hong Kong epidemiologist has said flight bans no longer make sense for Hong Kong. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 4:22pm, 24 Feb 2022Updated: 9:52pm, 24 Feb 2022

A top epidemiologist has urged Hong Kong to lift flight bans and allow residents to return to the city since the risk of local Covid-19 transmission now exceeds that posed by imported cases, as officials reported record numbers for the daily caseload and coronavirus-related deaths.

Professor Gabriel Leung, dean of the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) faculty of medicine, on Thursday also said the city should ramp up vaccinations among children before classes resumed in April to prevent yet another Covid-19 wave from emerging.

He made the warning with Hong Kong logging 17,269 “reported infections” as of Wednesday night, referring to all cases collected from public and private facilities across the city on a particular day. There were also 8,798 new Covid-19 cases confirmed on Thursday, taking the official tally to 84,046.

Professor Gabriel Leung, dean of the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) faculty of medicine. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

The Hospital Authority reported 50 new fatalities, involving patients aged 52 to 97, with only six of them having received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine. Another 17 people, aged between 68 and 93, died earlier but the cases were only reported on Thursday due to a backlog. The city’s Covid-related death toll is now 470.

Thirty-three patients are in a critical condition, while 49 are in a serious condition.

A chronically ill nine-year-old boy who was found unconscious at home on Wednesday night was admitted to United Christian Hospital and died the following morning. He was unvaccinated and tested positive for the virus.

Health officials said the boy was diagnosed with a genetic disease when he was a toddler. He had no upper respiratory tract infection symptoms, fever, or convulsions. He did not have contact with Covid-19 patients or test positive prior to admission.