Commuters line up to wait for buses in Hong Kong, July 22, 2020. (PARKER ZHENG/CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong reported four new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday, taking the number of confirmed cases in the city to 5,241.

In a statement issued on Sunday afternoon, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) said the four new infections included two imported cases and two local infections that were linked to previous cases.

The Centre for Health Protection said the four new infections included 2 imported cases and 2 local infections that were linked to previous cases

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The CHP said it was conducting epidemiological investigations and relevant contact tracing on the confirmed cases. 

According to the Hospital Authority (HA), a total of 132 confirmed COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized in 18 public hospitals.They include 12 patients who are in critical condition, four in serious condition while the remaining 116 patients are in stable condition.

The DH also announced that starting Monday, the Rambler Garden Hotel in Tsing Yi will be used as the Holding Centre for Test Results to provide accommodation for inbound travelers whose test results will not be available on the same day of their arrival. 

The DH said it will make flexible arrangements according to the capacity of the facilities and the daily number of passengers arriving on afternoon flights. 

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If necessary, inbound travelers arriving in the afternoon could also be arranged to wait for test results at the Temporary Specimen Collection Centre after collecting their deep throat saliva samples there, the DH said.

It also expressed gratitude to Dorsett Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong and its staff for their assistance in fighting the epidemic over the past two months.

Meanwhile, public hospitals and out-patient clinics of the HA will start providing seasonal influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations in phases to eligible persons on the coming Thursday to dovetail with the Government Vaccination Programme (GVP) for 2020/21.

The seasonal influenza vaccination programme this year will be carried out in two phases. In the first phase, the HA will provide influenza vaccination to eligible patients of public hospitals and out-patient clinics. The second phase will commence on November 2 to cover community elders aged 65 or above.

Raymond Lai, the Chief Infection Control Officer of the HA, appealed to members of the public to receive early vaccination to enhance immunity against influenza. 

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“Public hospitals may not be able to cope with the upsurge of service demand resulting from the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and influenza at the same time. Also, it may increase the risk of cross-infection within in-patients in hospitals,” he added.

According to an overseas study, the mortality rate of COVID-19 is lower for those with flu vaccination, Lai said.

He added that the study also showed that patients infected with influenza and COVID-19 are likely to suffer from more serious clinical condition and their mortality rate tend to be higher.