HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor (fourth right) gets a briefing from a staff member of the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre during its inauguration on Feb 25, 2021. Looking on are Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Qiu Hong (second right); Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee (third right); Chairman of the Hospital Authority Henry Fan Hung-ling (fifth right); and Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority Tony Ko Pat-sing (first right). (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY) 

HONG KONG - The central government-funded North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Center (HKICC) was inaugurated on Thursday as the city reported 13 new COVID-19 cases.

The HKICC is the last of the three central government-supported projects for Hong Kong to combat COVID-19 and it will first open a ward with 48 isolation beds on Friday. 

The HKICC is the last of the three central government-supported projects for Hong Kong to combat COVID-19 and it will first open a ward with 48 isolation beds on Friday

The other two, a mass testing program and the AsiaWorld-Expo treatment facility, were completed in September and October 2020, respectively.

At the inauguration ceremony, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor expressed gratitude for the central government's support for the HKSAR government and care for the Hong Kong residents.

Qiu Hong, deputy head of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, said the central government has been providing all-out support for Hong Kong's fight against the COVID-19 epidemic and will always be Hong Kong's strong backing.

The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, together with the HKSAR government and Hong Kong people, will prioritize the prevention and control of the epidemic and unite to overcome the epidemic, Qiu Hong said.

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There are six two-storey ward buildings with a total of 816 isolation beds at the center, which will first open a ward with 48 isolation beds to admit COVID-19 confirmed patients, aged between 16 and 65, with mild or moderate clinical conditions, a spokesperson of the Hospital Authority said.

The center is able to provide intravenous medication and oxygen therapy, which can help alleviate the pressure for isolation beds in public hospitals. In addition, the six independent blocks of ward buildings can be activated in phases according to the evolving epidemic situation, allowing more flexibility in manpower deployment and operation arrangements, the spokesperson said.

Apart from routine tests for clinical management, the laboratory at the center is equipped with state-of-the-art and fully automated laboratory equipment to handle a maximum of 1,500 specimens per day and augment the overall laboratory capacity of public hospitals by about 15 percent, the spokesperson added. 

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Meanwhile, the city's 13 new cases included 12 local infections and one imported case, pushing the city’s overall tally to 10,926.

Three local infections were untraceable, while the imported case involved a 45-year-old woman from Indonesia, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said in a statement.

Three local infections were untraceable, while the imported case involved a 45-year-old woman from Indonesia, the Centre for Health Protection said

The three untraceable local cases included that of a 16-year-old student at Yu Chun Keung Memorial College in Ho Man Tin, who last visited the school on Tuesday.

The other two involved a 34-year-old saleswoman who last went to work on Feb 18 and a 62-year-old quality control worker who visited his workplace on Wednesday.

Five of the new patients dined at Mr Ming’s Chinese Dining at K11 Musea in Tsim Sha Tsui on Friday afternoon. 

They included a 53-year-old information technology worker at the Hospital Authority, who ate at the restaurant with three colleagues who were also quarantined.

With inputs from Xinhua