HK sees record 7,533 new cases; mainland experts extend stay

Albert Au Ka-wing, principal medical and health officer of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, said at a news briefing that there were 7,530 local cases and three imported infections.

“We see that the number of cases will continue to increase in the near future and remain in a very high level. We hope that after a series of control measures, the number of cases will drop,” Au said. 

Lau Ka-hin, Chief Manager (Quality and Standards) of the Hospital Authority, said in the same briefing that 13 COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours, including an 11-month-old baby. Including three previous unannounced deaths, a total of 311 patients have passed away in public hospitals so far.

Lau said baby developed a fever and had convulsions on Saturday morning. She was brought to the Tseung Kwan O Hospital, where she tested positive for the virus. 

The baby was later transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and taken to the intensive care unit because her convulsions continued and she had difficulty in breathing.

At around noon on Saturday, she had a cardiac arrest and her condition deteriorated until she passed away at 6:59 pm on Sunday.

Lau said that they have yet to determine the cause of death and the coroner will look into it. He added that the baby’s parents and younger sister and elder brother also tested positive for the coronavirus. 

Meanwhile, the delegation of Chinese mainland epidemiological experts that is assisting Hong Kong in tackling the fifth wave of the pandemic will extend their stay until Feb 28, the government said in a statement issued on Monday night. 

"The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will spare no effort and leverage the central government's experience and guidance in fighting the epidemic and fully utilize the central government's support in manpower and resources, with a view to enhancing the capability in epidemiological investigation and analyses,” Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee was quoted as saying in the statement.

“I am grateful for the extended stay of the mainland epidemiological expert delegation to offer guidance and assist Hong Kong in conducting epidemiological investigations and analyses," she added.

The expert delegation and representatives of the Department of Health (DH) visited laboratories of the School of Public Health of the University of Hong Kong on Monday morning.

They discussed with Professor Leo Poon and his team the application of genome sequencing in epidemiological investigation and analyses. This was followed by a meeting that included Deputy Director General of the Health Commission of Guangdong Province Zhang Yurun, Director of Health Ronald Lam, and Controller of the Centre for Health Protection Edwin Tsui.

Lam expressed gratitude to the central government and the government of Guangdong province for their swift and extensive support to the HKSAR. 

He also thanked the expert delegation for looking into the city’s epidemiological investigation and various anti-epidemic measures over the past few days. 

The meeting also discussed the epidemiological characteristics of the fifth wave of the pandemic and the preliminary observations by the expert delegation.

The mainland delegation includes epidemiological experts from Guangdong province, Guangzhou and Zhongshan. They arrived in Hong Kong on Feb 17.

Also on Monday night, the government cordoned off Cheong Yat House and Cheong Him House in Nam Cheong Estate, Sham Shui Po for targeted testing operations after their sewage tested positive for COVID-19.

The government expected to finish both operations by 1 pm on Tuesday.

By Wang Zhan