A man (top) walks past the Cultural Centre in Hong Kong on March 25, 2022. (ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong's new COVID-19 caseload dropped to fewer than 10,000 for the first time in one month on Saturday as health officials said the city's fifth wave of infections has peaked.

Albert Au Ka-wing, principal medical and health officer of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, said in a press briefing that there were 8,841 new COVID-19 infections in the past day.

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The new cases comprised 8,835 local infections and six imported cases. He added that 3,884 were confirmed through nucleic acid tests and 4,957 by rapid antigen tests.

The new cases brought the city’s tally during its fifth wave of infections to 1.1 million, said Albert Au, principal medical and health officer of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch

The new additions brought the city’s tally during its fifth wave of infections to 1.1 million. 

When asked about the infection trend, Au said there have been early signs of stabilization.

"We are confident to say that the fifth wave has peaked," Au said. Nonetheless, he warned against a misconception that the pandemic has been put under control.

"A daily infection count of around 10,000 is still very high. We have to monitor for a few days to see if the downward trend continues," he added.

He called on members of the public to remain vigilant and observe social distancing measures.

Larry Lee Lap-yip, chief manager (Integrated Clinical Services) of the Hospital Authority, said at the same briefing that 114 patients infected with COVID-19 died in the last 24 hours. The patients comprised 65 men and 49 women aged 3 to 106 years old.

They included 52 residential care home residents while 76 were unvaccinated, Lee said.

The 3-year-old girl had brain condition and has been hospitalized for a long time, Lee said. She developed a fever and suffered from seizure on March 18 and was sent to the accident and emergency ward of Prince of Wales Hospital for treatment, where she was also found to have pneumonia. 

Her condition continued to deteriorate and she passed away on March 25. Her case has been referred to the coroner's court, Lee said.

Due to lagging in statistics, there were also 21 deaths that had not been reported earlier, Lee added.

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The number of COVID-19 patients who died in the fifth wave of pandemic in Hong Kong rose to 6,888, with the mortality rate increasing to 0.62 percent.