Coronavirus: Beijing ramps up response to Hong Kong’s raging fifth wave, bringing Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan into anti-epidemic efforts
- Mainland’s National Health Commission has been reporting Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong to Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan, source says
- Government pandemic adviser Professor David Hui estimates about 15 per cent of the city’s population may already have been infected with Covid-19
With Hong Kong in the grip of a growing Omicron-fuelled crisis, health experts estimate about 15 per cent of the city’s population may already have been infected with Covid-19.
The number of newly confirmed cases fell to 37,529 on Saturday, the first time since Tuesday daily figures have dropped below 40,000, a rare bright spot for the beleaguered city although officials said it was too early to read anything into it.
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Hong Kong public hospitals hanging by a thread amid surge of fifth-wave Covid cases
In another grim reminder of the fifth wave’s toll, the number of deaths recorded in a single day hit a new high of 150, prompting officials to again urge the elderly to get vaccinated.
A source said the mainland’s National Health Commission had recently been reporting the Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong to Sun with the city suffering an exponential growth in cases.
“Recently she has been getting more involved in decision-making and coordination work related to tackling the situation in Hong Kong, with the major outbreak spilling over to the mainland,” the source said, referring to infections imported from the city across the border.
Neighbouring Shenzhen detected 96 infections on Thursday, all from Hong Kong. Other Guangdong cities reporting cases from Hong Kong were Zhuhai with six, Zhongshan and Jiangmen with four apiece, two each in Huizhou and Shanwei, and one in Foshan.