Renowned mainland Chinese epidemiologist to arrive in Hong Kong; another 26,026 Covid-19 cases reported

Liang Wannian, the leader of the National Health Commission’s Covid Response Expert Team, to arrive on Monday

City continues to set records for number of infections and deaths, with 83 fatalities over the past 24 hours

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Liang Wannian, head of the expert group on Covid-19 response at China’s National Health Commission. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 4:38pm, 27 Feb 2022Updated: 12:47am, 28 Feb 2022

A top Chinese epidemiologist who heads the mainland’s government panel of experts on the coronavirus will arrive in Hong Kong on Monday to advise the city as daily infections reached a new record of over 26,000 cases and the death toll rose to 83.

The visit of Liang Wannian, leader of the National Health Commission’s (NHC) Covid Response Expert Team who was in Wuhan when the virus hit the mainland, showed that Beijing was treating the situation in Hong Kong as dire and requiring top-level guidance, sources told the Post.

According to insiders, the city’s first makeshift mobile cabin hospitals will also begin operating on Monday, potentially easing an overburdened health care system which over the weekend left the public reeling from viral images of corpses being left alongside patients at emergency departments. Beijing was also sending about 9,000 personnel to help carry out next month’s universal testing, one source revealed.

Medical staff take in residents at a government clinic dedicated to Covid-19 patients in Yau Ma Tei. Photo: Jelly Tse

As experts warned that the number of cases would only worsen, another top mainland epidemiologist urged the government to further consider tightening social-distancing rules but warned the window of opportunity was closing fast.

Health authorities announced 26,026 cases on Sunday, taking the city’s overall number of infections to 171,314, the vast bulk of which have emerged in the past eight weeks alone.

“Indeed, we are very worried,” said Dr Albert Au Ka-wing, principal medical and health officer at the Centre for Health Protection. “Cases are still on a rising trajectory. We believe they will continue to rise in the short term.”

The city also recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic so far, with 83 related fatalities over the past 24 hours and 27 others occurring earlier but only revealed now due to a backlog.