Covid-19 cases surge, reaching heights of last August: health official

The overall activity of Covid-19 has been on the rise since mid-March, reaching or surpassing last August’s peak level, according to health official Albert Au Ka-wing.

Speaking on a radio program on Tuesday, Au, head of the Centre of Health Protection’s Communicable Disease Branch, reported that the city has recorded 75 severe cases of Covid among adults in the past month, a significant increase from 17 instances the previous month. 

Additionally, the number of associated deaths among adults rose from 3 to 26 within the same time period.

Au pointed out that approximately 85 percent of severe cases involve individuals aged 65 and older, with about 64 percent living in residential elderly care homes.

Notably, around 95 percent of the severe cases have chronic diseases, with more than 95 percent having not received a vaccine booster in the past six months.

In response to the potential for a new coronavirus outbreak, Au noted that the viral load of the virus from sewage surveillance, the test positivity rate and average consultation rate have been increasing.

He cited that the percentage of respiratory samples testing positive for the virus reached a new high of 11.42 percent over the past four weeks, marking a nearly 52-week peak.

Au also highlighted an alarming increase in outbreaks within care homes, with 32 outbreaks involving 177 patients recorded between April 20 and May 10, where 60 percent of these cases were among elderly residents who had missed their booster doses.

There were five outbreaks occurred in care homes, impacting 23 individuals in the first two days of this week alone, Au added.

Ivan Hung Fan-ngai, chair professor in infectious diseases at the University of Hong Kong, predicted that the Covid peak would last three to four months, with case numbers peaking in the following two weeks and remaining high for another six to eight weeks.