Hong Kong Covid-19 cases cross 1 million, 97% reported from fifth wave

The Associated Press reported on  Friday that Hong Kong has recorded over one million Covid-19 infections, after city health officials discovered 20,079 additional cases in the previous 24 hours. In the current wave of infections, which is Hong Kong’s sixth, about 97 percent of the one million cases were recorded.

Officials from the city’s health department also confirmed 265 deaths linked to Covid. There have been 5,401 virus-related deaths in Hong Kong, compared to 4,636 in mainland China. Since February 9, 96 percent of its caseload has arrived.

Hong Kong, a city of 7.4 million people, is engulfed by a lethal omicron wave.

The healthcare system is nearing breaking point, with hospitals reaching maximum capacity and mortuaries becoming so overcrowded that bodies must be temporarily held in refrigerated containers, similar to what happened in India last year.

The majority of the victims were elderly people who had not been adequately immunised.

In fact, Hong Kong has seen the highest number of deaths per million people in recent weeks – more than 24 times that of Singapore – due to the fact that the bulk of its senior population are either partially or completely unvaccinated.

Carrie Lam, the leader of Hong Kong, has stated that vaccination of this portion is her ‘utmost priority.’ She also stated that she intends to’relaunch’ the city ‘as soon as the fifth wave stabilises,’ and that quarantine-free movement will be restored as quickly as feasible.

With strong ‘zero COVID’ restrictions that stopped businesses, limited public gatherings, and imposed immigration controls — long quarantines and flight bans from ‘high-risk’ countries – Hong Kong was able to stamp out epidemics.