All but eight of the new infections are locally transmitted, with officials still tracing the source of more than 160 cases. The patients live in various districts, but with heavy concentrations in places such as Sha Tin, Sham Shui Po, and Tuen Mun.
Health Secretary Sophia Chan Siu-chee warned that case numbers were likely to rise exponentially after many people held gatherings during the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday. She called on people to stay home
"We must cut down people's flow. We must stop the activities. We must work from home," she told a daily media briefing earlier today.
"Our contact tracing, our testing and also other measures are already taking effect, but we are running as fast as we can in order to compete with the speed of the virus, therefore everybody's help is necessary and is being called for."
With isolation beds at hospitals quickly running out, health officials said the Penny’s Bay quarantine camp will start taking in COVID-19 patients with mild or no symptoms as soon as next week.
Household contacts of close contacts will quarantine at home, instead of going to a facility. And if the situation worsens, close contacts or even patients with few symptoms will be allowed to stay home, subject to various rules, such as frequent tests and a ban on visitors.
Director of Health Ronald Lam Man-kin said all decisions would be based on risk assessments.
"We have to assess if the place of dwelling is suitable for home quarantine," Lam said. "For example, for subdivided units or places without individual kitchens, or common rooms, probably we would not consider that.
"We have to consider, also, individual, related factors like whether or not the age is suitable for the [confined person] to take care of himself, whether or not she is pregnant, the vaccination status, any symptoms, any comorbidities and so forth.
Five buildings have had to be partially evacuated after multiple cases emerged there.
Authorities also reported about 200 preliminary positive cases.
As of yesterday, Hong Kong's COVID-19 tally stood at 14,715, including 213 deaths, according to worldometers.info.
Macau's novel coronavirus tally stands at 79. No COVID-19 fatality has been reported in Macau.
- RTHK, MPD
