Hong Kong added 7,579 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday as health authorities said they are still mulling adjustments to the provisional vaccine pass with senior management.
Among the new infections, 7,418 were transmitted locally, including 2,139 confirmed via PCR tests and 5,279 verified positive RAT results. Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection also reported 161 imported cases.
The discussion on the adjustments of the provisional vaccine pass came after a mainlander revealed on social media, Xiaohongshu, that she entered Hong Kong despite being unvaccinated and was issued a blue health code, which allows her to visit premises that require vaccination.
Chuang then said the Health Bureau is still mulling relevant details with senior government management and noted more announcements will be made in due course.
She also sidestepped questions that will authorities' plan to allow infected returnees to continue their stay in the hotels in the latest cycle of the quarantine hotel scheme become a loophole in the city's anti-Covid fight.
Eight elderly homes and care centers for the disabled saw 11 residents and two workers infected with Covid, leading to the quarantine of 80 other residents.
The CHP was also informed of 1,625 infections by 785 schools, including 1,414 students and 211 teachers and staffers. A total of 46 classes from 38 schools were suspended for a week, while eight of the schools saw more than one class suspended.
Hospital Authority's chief patient safety and risk management manager, Sara Ho Yuen-ha, logged 10 new deaths involving eight men and two women aged 72 to 99.
The deceased patients suffered from different chronic diseases, and six had already received the booster.
The death tally of the fifth wave now stands at 9,617.
The latest analysis showed that the BA.5 Omicron subvariant took up about 70 percent of the overall infections and the BA.4 subvariant at 9 percent.
Public facilities are now housing 2,834 Covid patients. Among them, 51 are in critical condition, 55 are in serious condition, and 13 are in hospital intensive care units.
The discussion on the adjustments of the provisional vaccine pass came after a mainlander revealed on social media, Xiaohongshu, that she entered Hong Kong despite being unvaccinated and was issued a blue health code, which allows her to visit premises that require vaccination.
Chuang then said the Health Bureau is still mulling relevant details with senior government management and noted more announcements will be made in due course.
She also sidestepped questions that will authorities' plan to allow infected returnees to continue their stay in the hotels in the latest cycle of the quarantine hotel scheme become a loophole in the city's anti-Covid fight.
Eight elderly homes and care centers for the disabled saw 11 residents and two workers infected with Covid, leading to the quarantine of 80 other residents.
The CHP was also informed of 1,625 infections by 785 schools, including 1,414 students and 211 teachers and staffers. A total of 46 classes from 38 schools were suspended for a week, while eight of the schools saw more than one class suspended.
Hospital Authority's chief patient safety and risk management manager, Sara Ho Yuen-ha, logged 10 new deaths involving eight men and two women aged 72 to 99.
The deceased patients suffered from different chronic diseases, and six had already received the booster.
The death tally of the fifth wave now stands at 9,617.
The latest analysis showed that the BA.5 Omicron subvariant took up about 70 percent of the overall infections and the BA.4 subvariant at 9 percent.
Public facilities are now housing 2,834 Covid patients. Among them, 51 are in critical condition, 55 are in serious condition, and 13 are in hospital intensive care units.