Long way to go: Hong Kong Covid-19 spiral appears to have peaked, says Lam
Hong Kong’s Covid-19 spiral appears to have peaked, but there remains a long way to go for the finance hub as it ushers in extra medics from the mainland.
The city of 7.4m people reported 29,272 new infections on Wednesday, and recorded 217deaths, compared with 228 in the previous 24 hours.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam told reporters in a daily news conference that the latest wave of Omicron appears to have peaked on 3 March and has since shown a slow, but downward trend.
Some 300 medics arrived in the city earlier today, a second tranche of extra support from the mainland, as temporary morgues are installed across the city.
“We will try to find a way for the family to take the body back so that they can arrange the funeral soon. The crematoriums… have also been working day and night at full capacity,” added Lam.
Refrigerated containers have been set up to store some of the bodies, according to reports.
Since the fifth wave of the virus began in late December, Hong Kong has reported more than 4,300 deaths and over 760,000 infections.
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong have estimated that nearly 3.6m people — around half of the city’s population — have been infected as of 14 March, based on modelling and data.
Current restrictions have seen gyms and bars shut since January, with no prospect of reopening until mid-April at the earliest. Subway trains and buses are also running reduced services, with much of the city’s working population having to isolate with the virus.