Coronavirus Hong Kong: infections rebound slightly to 668 after falling steadily for more than week

But Dr Albert Au from Centre for Health Protection says still too early to discern any trend

Some residents also report difficulty obtaining the new QR code for recovered cases that allows entry into areas covered by vaccine pass

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Parents take their children to receive a BioNTech shot at the Children Community Vaccination Centre at Hong Kong Children’s Hospital in Kai Tak. Photo: Jelly Tse

Published: 5:04pm, 20 Apr 2022Updated: 10:16pm, 20 Apr 2022

Covid-19 infections have rebounded slightly in Hong Kong after steadily declining for more than a week, but the increase is within the range of what authorities expect on a daily basis.

Health officials reported 668 cases on Wednesday after confirming 600 the day before, along with 10 deaths related to the virus. But a senior health official cautioned it was still too early to discern any trend in infection numbers.

“There is a fluctuation in the number of cases every day. A fluctuation under 100 is within expectation,” said Dr Albert Au Ka-wing from the Centre for Health Protection, adding that determining a trend based on a single figure would be difficult. “We will closely monitor the situation.”

Shoppers flock to Causeway Bay on Easter Sunday. Photo: Nora Tam

Hong Kong will introduce the first phase of a three-stage easing of social-distancing rules on Thursday, and Au said health authorities would monitor a variety of indicators to gauge the overall risk level, including the daily number of new cases and positive rates from sewage surveillance and lockdown operations.

But the government had not adopted any firm threshold of numbers that when exceeded would trigger another round of tightening, he added.

Infections were also reported by students. Among 187 schools that had face-to-face classes on Wednesday, two in Kowloon and one on Hong Kong Island reported infections, involving one staff member and three students.

Au also clarified that 12 students from an international school who were reported positive on Tuesday were found to be free of the virus, as their parents had submitted incorrect test results to the school. Rapid tests carried out on Wednesday also returned negative results, he said.

Another mishap in testing emerged on Wednesday night when diagnostics firm Prenetics revealed it had failed to send SMS notifications of screening results to 482 people who tested during February 21 and March 1, including 25 who tested positive.