HONG KONG, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) reported four additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, taking Hong Kong's total tally to 5,241.

Two of the newly-reported cases were imported and the remaining two were epidemiologically linked with local cases, the CHP said.

Sophia Chan, Secretary for Food and Health of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said on Sunday in her blog that 116 confirmed cases were reported between Oct. 2 and Oct. 15, in which 53 percent were local infections.

Chan said the number of confirmed cases was not high over the past two weeks, but there are still silent transmission chains in the community as the infections involved different clusters across Hong Kong. She urged the public to stay vigilant.

With the support of the central government, Hong Kong completed its universal community testing program in September, during which 1,783,000 tests were conducted and at least 42 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were identified, she said.

Of the 42 cases, 13 showed no symptoms and 20 had an unknown source of infection, Chan said, adding that the program has helped Hong Kong identify asymptomatic cases and enabled local health authorities to map out the next testing strategy, she said.

According to Hong Kong's Hospital Authority, 132 patients are still being treated in hospitals, including 12 in critical condition. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)