Residents line up to get tested for COVID-19 in Tseung Kwan O district on Feb 25, 2022. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong’s new COVID-19 cases surged to over 10,000 on Friday as health authorities again urged patients with mild symptoms to avoid going to the city’s already crowded hospitals.

Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection, said in a news briefing that the city recorded 10,010 new confirmed cases, including 10,006 local infections and 4 imported cases. The city's tally stood at 94,056.

Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection,  said there were 21,979 reported cases on Thursday, which included preliminary positive cases and those tested by private laboratories

She added that there were 21,979 reported cases on Thursday, which included preliminary positive cases and those tested by private laboratories.

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 “I think the best way to reflect the trend is if you look at the reported cases that we received yesterday..It’s 21,900. That was a rapid rise..We’re talking about an exponential rise,” Chuang said.

She noted that there were more than 17,000 reported cases on Wednesday before rising to over 21,000 in just 24 hours. 

Lau Ka-hin, chief manager (quality and standards) of the Hospital Authority, urged persons who tested positive for COVID-19 but have mild symptoms not to go to crowded hospitals.

He said data from the Fire Services Department showed that over 30 percent of calls for ambulances were from asymptomatic patients or those with mild symptoms. Lau said this could hinder services to patients in more serious or critical condition. 

Instead of going to the accident and emergency departments of crowded hospitals, patients with mild symptoms could seek treatment or advice from the nine clinics that were designated earlier to attend to their needs, he said.   

Lau added that there were 47 new deaths on Friday and 12 more deaths that were not reported earlier.

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He said the 47 patients who died included 27 males and 20 females aged 9 to 100 years old. Twenty-seven of them were from residential care homes for the elderly. Only five of the 47 patients were vaccinated.

Chuang said there were now 420 residential care homes that had cases, with 510 staff members and 1,500 residents infected.

More than 50 care homes had 10 or more infections, she added.

The HA has announced that Tin Shui Wai Hospital will utilize all of 300 beds to receive COVID-19 patients starting on the midnight of Feb 26 to help concentrate manpower and resources in the fight against the pandemic.

Helper at finance chief residence tests positive

Meanwhile, a domestic helper worker at the residence of Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has tested preliminarily positive for COVID-19.

In a statement, the government said the helper last performed duties on Feb 23 and is mainly responsible for daily household services. She wore masks at work and occasionally stays overnight in adjacent staff quarters.

Chan and his family are not considered as close contact and have tested negative for the virus. Still, for prudence's sake, the financial chief will work from home for five days until Feb 27, counting from the last day he had contact with the helper, the government said.