Coronavirus: Hong Kong reports 2,227 infections even as bad weather forces testing centres to close, while Macau confirms 56 cases as outbreak persists
- Number of cases confirmed by health authorities is down slightly from the 2,318 reported on Friday
- Macau continues to struggle with lingering outbreak and has implemented universal testing and tighter social-distancing rules
Hong Kong on Saturday confirmed 2,227 infections, of which 143 were imported, down slightly from the 2,318 cases reported on Friday. The city’s coronavirus total stands at 1,250,088 infections, with 9,405 related deaths after three more were announced.
The number of cases involving the more transmissible BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants has risen sharply this week, going from nine in total on Monday to 36 on Friday, although most health experts say the strains do not cause more severe illness than the original virus and have advised against tightening social-distancing rules for now.
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Of Saturday’s cases, two involved the BA.5 strain, taking the total recorded in the city to 75, while the overall number of infections of the BA.4 variant remains at 35.
Respiratory medicine specialist Dr Leung Chi-chiu said he believed the “typhoon effect” would start to emerge on Sunday.
“Some tests did continue before the No 8 typhoon signal yesterday, the maximum effect may be seen tomorrow,” he said.
“PCR testing, either direct or for confirmation of rapid antigen tests [RATs] will have been affected to some degree.”
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Leung said while some social activities might be disrupted over the typhoon period, confining most residents to their homes as public transport was suspended, such pursuits would continue as social-distancing controls had been eased.
On the rising trend of BA.4 and BA.5 cases, Leung said he expected imported ones to continue to increase as those subvariants had gained ground across the world, rapidly accounting for 35 to 40 per cent of new cases in the United States.
“The local cases will be fuelled by any clusters, which need to be observed closely,” he said.
Across the Pearl River Delta, Macau confirmed 56 Covid-19 cases, taking the total since an outbreak emerged on June 18 to 694. This came despite the city enforcing tough universal screening, which included invalidating the health code of anyone who failed to take a test before a deadline, leaving them unable to enter most premises.
Macau has shut down most entertainment venues, such as cinemas, gyms and karaoke bars, and banned dine-in at restaurants.
