Health workers collect a deep-throat swab from a taxi driver for coronavirus testing in Kwai Fong Car Park in Hong KOng on July 24, 2020. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)
HONG KONG - Hong Kong reported 128 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, the fifth straight day with a daily number of new coronavirus cases surpassing 100.
More than 100 patients confirmed with COVID-19 were still waiting to be admitted on Sunday, saying it’s “not ideal” that confirmed patients could not be taken to hospital right away.
The new cases, including 103 local infections and 25 imported ones, brought the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong to 2,633, according to the Centre for Health Protection.
Out of the local cases, 68 were related to previously confirmed cases, mostly clusters concerning gatherings of families or friends, while the sources of infection of the other 35 cases remained unknown, Chuang Shuk-kwa, head of the centre’s communicable disease branch, said at a media briefing on Sunday.
The 25 imported cases mostly involved sea crew and foreign domestic helpers, according to Chuang.
Chui Tak-yi, undersecretary for food and health, urged members of the public to suspend social activities such as family and friends' gatherings, and called on the elderly and persons with underlying illnesses to avoid going out.
According to Linda Yu, a chief manager of Hong Kong's Hospital Authority, as of Sunday afternoon, the death toll from COVID-19 in Hong Kong has increased to 18.
Yu said more than 100 patients confirmed with COVID-19 were still waiting to be admitted on Sunday, saying it’s “not ideal” that confirmed patients could not be taken to hospital right away.
She appealed for understanding, saying the pressure on the public healthcare system is “great”, and staff are having difficulties in catching up with the new cases.
In Hong Kong, the occupancy rates of negative pressure rooms and isolation beds in public hospitals have risen to 82.4 percent and 77.1 percent respectively, Yu said.
With inputs from Xinhua
