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Coronavirus: Hong Kong logs record 198 deaths, over 27,000 Covid cases; city leader ‘cautious’ on whether infection numbers have peaked

  • Health official urges public to remain vigilant, comply with anti-epidemic curbs as cases detected during lockdowns remain steady
  • From Monday, those who report positive results on government’s online portal will receive a verification link to upload proof of identity and testing

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A health official has warned the public to stay vigilant despite the downward trend in coronavirus cases. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
Hong Kong reported a record 198 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, although the recent downtrend in cases remained in place, with officials confirming about 27,600 new infections.

City leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor cautioned against premature optimism that infection numbers had peaked, adding that she “could not comfortably say” that was the case. Nor was she willing to commit to a time frame on when the government expected to get the raging fifth wave of infections under control. She called such a promise “not very scientific”.

“We will closely monitor the coming days to see if we are experiencing a drop in confirmed cases, especially under the self-declaration system which counts those who tested positive through the rapid antigen kit,” she told a press briefing.

“Although some experts have said that perhaps we have passed the peak, we’d rather take a very cautious stance.”

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Carrie Lam admits ‘not enough’ done to vaccinate elderly Hongkongers from Covid-19

Carrie Lam admits ‘not enough’ done to vaccinate elderly Hongkongers from Covid-19

Officials confirmed 27,647 new Covid-19 cases, including 11,858 positive results reported on a new government online portal by infected residents using rapid antigen test (RAT) kits.

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