Coronavirus: cases surge above 8,500, authorities warn of ‘heavy burden’ on Hong Kong’s healthcare system
- Overall daily total has hit 8,579 – the highest since March 27
- Authorities also report outbreak involving 33 residents at care home for elderly
Hong Kong’s daily tally of Covid-19 infections has surged above 8,500 for the first time since a rebound in June, prompting the government to warn of an “extremely heavy burden” on the city’s healthcare system.
Authorities also reported an outbreak involving 33 residents at a home for the elderly, as they announced on Thursday that the overall daily total had hit 8,579 – the highest since March 27.
“The infection figure has increased by nearly 2,000 per day in the recent two to three days, from over 6,000 per day, to more than 8,000. The number of cases is rising rapidly,” Dr Albert Au Ka-wing of the Centre for Health Protection said.
“We expect the figure to exceed 10,000 soon, which may result in an extremely heavy burden on the healthcare system.”
Nine more deaths were reported on Thursday, and 297 of the new cases were imported.
Asked if the city was facing a sixth wave of Covid-19 infections, Au said the fifth wave had never ended, although cases had dropped to a few hundred in April.
He also expressed concerns over the “accelerating” number of transmission chains and the speed of infections.