HONG KONG – Hong Kong's health authorities today reported 58,757 new novel coronavirus cases and 291 COVID-19-related deaths.
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said 25,991 infections had been confirmed by PCR tests.
It said 32,766 people had notified the authorities that they had tested positive for COVID-19 in self-administered rapid antigen tests.
Dr Albert Au Ka-wing of the CHP said about 9,700 rapid tests came back positive on March 6 - the day before the online reporting platform was launched - and the figures recorded via the website should better reflect the real-time situation in the future.
The Hospital Authority (HA) said 195 people with COVID-19 had died at public hospitals over the past day, and 95 deaths had occurred earlier but were yet to be announced.
The CHP said its forensic pathologist found that a woman who died earlier also carried the virus.
A chief manager of the HA, Dr Sara Ho Yuen-ha, said all 1,500 beds at Queen Elizabeth Hospital will be used to treat COVID-19 patients from March 13.
Macau's COVID-19 tally stands at 82, without any fatalities. Three of the COVID-19 patients were still undergoing treatment yesterday, according to the Health Bureau's COVID-19 data website.
