Hong Kong set to report record 1,510 confirmed cases: sources

Hong Kong is set to report 1,510 confirmed Covid-19 cases on Saturday, marking another record-breaking daily caseload, according to sources.

On Friday, the Centre for Health Protection added 1,325 confirmed cases, of which only two were imported from overseas. The rest were all local infections.

Hong Kong and mainland China are among few places in the world still aiming to suppress every Covid-19 outbreak instead of trying to live with the virus, but the Omicron variant has proven tough to keep under control in the global financial hub.

Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu, Health Secretary Sophia Chan Siu-chee and Security Chief Chris Tang Ping-keung were in neighboring Shenzhen on Saturday, where they were discussing support measures with Chinese officials.

Hospital beds for Covid-19 patients are already at 90 percent occupancy, while isolation facilities were also nearing their maximum, authorities said.

Hundreds of thousands of people have also been forced to test every day, including the elderly and children, queuing for hours in tightly packed lines outside overwhelmed testing centers and raising the risk of infection.

According to the center's Covid-19 website, the city sees 16,583 confirmed cases and 216 deaths so far.

Over 11.7 million doses of vaccine have been administered, and some 5.5 million citizens have received their first dose of vaccine.

(Staff reporter and Reuters)