Coronavirus: sixth wave of infections unlikely to hit Hong Kong within weeks, experts say, as city confirms 234 cases
- Emergence of a sixth wave depends on whether a new variant enters the community, says veteran HKU microbiologist
- Professor Gabriel Leung on Saturday said the city was ‘on the cusp of a potential sixth wave if things tilt in the wrong direction’
The experts’ views were at odds with a projection made by leading government pandemic adviser Professor Gabriel Leung, who warned on social media at the weekend that the next wave could hit the city soon.
Health authorities on Monday confirmed 234 infections, including 42 imported ones. No deaths related to the virus were recorded. The city’s coronavirus tally stood at 1,208,740 cases, with 9,361 related fatalities.
The clashing opinions over the sixth wave came as two researchers from the medical faculty at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) called on the government to exempt residents aged under 60 from the vaccine pass scheme and to focus on boosting inoculation rates among the elderly instead.
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“The emergence of the sixth wave depends on whether a new variant will enter the community,” veteran HKU microbiologist Dr Ho Pak-leung said. “If the sixth wave emerges in Hong Kong, to a certain extent, the same will happen to the rest of the world.”
Ho told a radio programme the city was still experiencing its fifth wave of infections as daily caseloads remained in the 200 to 300 range and BA.2, a subvariant of Omicron, was still the mainstream Covid-19 strain.