Penny's Bay to house patients as cases soar

Hong Kong reported a record-breaking 614 new Covid-19 cases yesterday - the highest daily

caseload since the SAR was first hit by the coronavirus in January 2020.

And 600 more preliminarily positive cases awaited confirmation.

As cases doubled from 300 on Saturday, health authorities said the new community isolation center in Penny's Bay providing 600 individual units in the first phase will from today take stable Covid-19 patients with no or mild symptoms.

That comes with the occupancy of isolation beds in hospitals reaching 81 percent.

At the same time, authorities will allow close contacts living in suitable household environments to observe home quarantine while wearing smart bracelets instead of sending them to isolation facilities.

More than 400 of the new cases came from untraceable sources, and a number of them involved family clusters who attended gatherings around the Lunar New Year holiday.

Edwin Tsui Lok-kin, controller of the Centre for Health Protection, said the pandemic situation in Hong Kong is "not optimistic" but the SAR administration remains confident of controlling the surge.

"There were about 300 cases yesterday, and today there are 600 cases," Tsui said. "So we estimated the number of cases may increase in the coming few days."

But Tsui also said it was difficult to say if the daily caseload would reach 1,000 because of the anti-epidemic measures.

"We learned from overseas experience where they do not have containment strategies the case number may have an exponential increase," he said. "But in Hong Kong we have containment strategies and the cooperation of people."

He urged Hongkongers to stay home and avoid gatherings to curb transmissions.

Among the 614 new cases yesterday, seven were imported and around 150 were linked to previous local cases. The other cases were untraceable, said the CHP's head of the communicable diseases, Chuang Shuk-kwan.

Chuang said many patients contracted the virus in family gatherings before or during the Lunar New Year holiday, and many of the untraceable cases were salesmen, cleaners, security guards and construction workers.

More elderly home residents - one at the Hong Lok Yuen center in To Kwa Wan and two at Po Leung Kuk Kwok Law Kwai Chun Home for the Elderly in Sheung Wan - tested positive yesterday.

Chuang said around 130 residents at the two care homes had to go to the Penny's Bay quarantine center.

She also said authorities will no longer release details of each case as it is "not so meaningful" any longer to spell out details of cases.

The Hospital Authority's chief executive manager, Larry Lee Lap-yip, said at least 17 public hospital staff were infected - a doctor at Tuen Mun Hospital and eight nurses and eight assistant staff at Prince of Wales Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital and Caritas Medical Centre.

Lee said 1,668 Covid-19 patients are being treated at public hospitals, and the current occupancy rate for isolation beds was 81.3 percent.

Among patients, a 77-year-old woman and an 84-year-old man were in critical condition.

Meanwhile, stable Covid patients will be moved from hospitals to the Penny's Bay isolation facility, which will provide 600 rooms for patients starting from today so hospital beds could go to the severely ill.

Lee said vaccinated young patients who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and are able to look out for themselves will be moved to Penny's Bay.

But authorities will consider medical histories before patients are moved, Lee said, adding that doctors and nurses at Penny's Bay will provide 24-hour support.

And as a precaution the Hospital Authority will set up a post in the facility to provide consultation services and symptom-relieving medications.

Close contacts of patients will be quarantined for 14 days while family members of the close contacts will undergo four-day quarantines.

But only those whose homes are fit for isolation can go into home quarantine. People who share toilets with neighbors, for example, will continue to be sent to Penny's Bay.

Close contacts in home quarantine will receive a package containing rapid test kits and a thermometer plus they must wear the smart bracelets to ensure they stay inside.

And people under home quarantine who need to take out the garbage must do so quickly while people must wear masks even after testing negative on the day, Tsui said.

He also appealed to delivery workers to avoid face-to-face contacts.

Lee also called for people testing positive in rapid test kits to head to accident and emergency wards in hospitals immediately for confirmation tests.

But they should avoid taking public transportation, Lee said, and hospitals will conduct tests in an outdoor triage test station.

Of Covid-hit buildings, the Mei King and Mei Chi blocks at Mei Tin Estate in Sin Tin - cordoned off since Sunday evening - have had lockdowns extended to 10am today after seeing 10 and 12 preliminarily positive cases respectively.

Fu Yuet House at Fu Cheong Estate in Sham Shui Po was also locked down last night, with authorities reporting that sewage discharged from the building tested positive.

Suspected vertical and horizontal transmissions were also found at three more residential buildings - Kai Yan House at Kai Tin Estate in Lam Tin, Him Tat House at On Tat Estate in Kwun Tong and Willow House at So Uk Estate in Cheung Sha Wan.

Residents living in units 15 from the 26th to 35th floors of Kai Yan House, units 3 and 4 from the 21st to 28th floors of Him Tat House, and units 12 from the 20th to 28th floors of Willow House were evacuated.