Hong Kong added 4,270 new Covid-19 cases on Friday as health authorities urged citizens to follow the social distancing curbs, saying the daily caseload could be doubled within two weeks.
The Centre for Health Protection's Chuang Shuk-kwan reported 4,090 local infections, including 1,522 confirmed via PCR tests and 2,568 verified positive RAT results.
Chuang also reported 180 imported cases -- 78 detected at the airport, 97 at designated quarantine hotels, and five found in local communities after the patients completed the seven-day isolation.
Chuang said the daily caseload has been rising gradually, and authorities cannot yet forecast when it will reach the peak or start dropping again. She then appealed to citizens to stick to the existing Covid curbs, adding that she didn't want the numbers to skyrocket at once.
She called on citizens with high exposure risk to the coronavirus to get all three vaccine jabs as soon as possible and to seek medical attention if necessary.
When asked about the infection cluster of the 12 Cathay Pacific crew members, Chuang said she would not disclose details of an individual cluster.
Chuang noted that the government will strengthen compulsory testing capacity for high-risk buildings or locations over the new home isolation arrangement. She also sidestepped questions about electronic bracelets distributed to confirmed patients and explained she didn't know much on the matter.
Hospital Authority's chief manager for integrated clinical services Larry Lee Lap-yip reported six related deaths involving two men and four women aged from 72 to 97. The new deaths pushed the death tally of the fifth wave to 9,241.
The center was informed of 442 infections -- 365 students and 77 teachers and staffers -- from 340 schools today.
Three elderly homes -- Tung Kong Sanatorium in Mong Kok, Granyet (Shan King) Elderly Care Centre in Tuen Mun, and The Greenwood in Tsing Yi -- each saw a resident infected with Covid.
Public hospitals and treatment facilities are now housing 1,257 Covid patients. Among them, 18 are in critical condition, 29 are in serious condition, and two are in hospitals' intensive care units. In the past 24 hours, 126 patients have recovered from Covid, and 110 of them have been discharged.
Chuang also reported 180 imported cases -- 78 detected at the airport, 97 at designated quarantine hotels, and five found in local communities after the patients completed the seven-day isolation.
Chuang said the daily caseload has been rising gradually, and authorities cannot yet forecast when it will reach the peak or start dropping again. She then appealed to citizens to stick to the existing Covid curbs, adding that she didn't want the numbers to skyrocket at once.
She called on citizens with high exposure risk to the coronavirus to get all three vaccine jabs as soon as possible and to seek medical attention if necessary.
When asked about the infection cluster of the 12 Cathay Pacific crew members, Chuang said she would not disclose details of an individual cluster.
Chuang noted that the government will strengthen compulsory testing capacity for high-risk buildings or locations over the new home isolation arrangement. She also sidestepped questions about electronic bracelets distributed to confirmed patients and explained she didn't know much on the matter.
Hospital Authority's chief manager for integrated clinical services Larry Lee Lap-yip reported six related deaths involving two men and four women aged from 72 to 97. The new deaths pushed the death tally of the fifth wave to 9,241.
The center was informed of 442 infections -- 365 students and 77 teachers and staffers -- from 340 schools today.
Three elderly homes -- Tung Kong Sanatorium in Mong Kok, Granyet (Shan King) Elderly Care Centre in Tuen Mun, and The Greenwood in Tsing Yi -- each saw a resident infected with Covid.
Public hospitals and treatment facilities are now housing 1,257 Covid patients. Among them, 18 are in critical condition, 29 are in serious condition, and two are in hospitals' intensive care units. In the past 24 hours, 126 patients have recovered from Covid, and 110 of them have been discharged.