Latest situations of COVID-19 (Jan 19, Thursday)

TOPLINE
- 3,793 new cases [917 cases by nucleic acid tests (12 imported + 905 locally acquired); 2,876 cases by rapid antigen tests (97 imported + 2,779 locally acquired)]
- As at Jan 18, 105, 152, 852, 5,545 and 826 persons received their first, second, third, fourth and fifth dose of vaccine respectively; a cumulative total of 20,585,132 doses have been administered
- Proof of nucleic acid test not required for young children aged 3 and below for entry into Mainland from Hong Kong starting January 19

- new cases tested positive by nucleic acid tests: 917 (12 imported + 905 locally acquired)
- total cases tested positive by nucleic acid tests: 1,209,351
- new cases tested positive by rapid antigen tests: 2,876 (97 imported + 2,779 locally acquired)
- total cases tested positive by rapid antigen tests: 1,634,655
- deaths: 12,965 [during the fifth wave (since December 31, 2021): 12,752]

14-day rolling sitrep of new cases (most recent figure first, in bracket: “local cases / imported cases”)
- 3,793 ( 3,684 / 109 ); 3,843 ( 3,744 / 99 ); 4,653 ( 4,529 / 124 ); 6,261 ( 6,091 / 170 ); 7,749 (7,563 / 186 ); 8,260 ( 8,032 / 228 ); 9,208 ( 8,916 / 292 ); 9,279 ( 9,017 / 262 ); 9,379 ( 9,152 / 227 ); 11,641 ( 11,318 / 323 ); 14,113 ( 13,682 / 431 ); 15,850 ( 15,341 / 509 ); 19,722 ( 19,527 / 195 ); 18,422 ( 18,258 / 164 )

Provisional data analysis on COVID-19 reported death cases
https://www.covidvaccine.gov.hk/pdf/death_analysis.pdf
Provisional analysis of the first 12,330 reported death cases in the 5th wave:
- Vaccination history
　- Received 4 doses (reached 14 days): 2%
　- Received 3 doses (reached 14 days): 12%
　- Received 2 doses (reached 14 days): 13%
　- Received 1 dose (reached 14 days): 13%
　- Unvaccinated: 60%
- Over 95% fatal cases were elderly aged 60 years or above; 48% were residential care home residents; 93% were with known chronic diseases
- Receiving 3 doses of any vaccines greatly reduces death risk especially in the older age group

- As at Jan 18:
* 105 persons received their first dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 6,911,904 persons have received their first vaccine dose, making up 94.6% of the population aged 3 or above
* 152 persons received their second dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 6,791,989 persons have received their second vaccine dose, making up 93.1% of the population aged 3 or above
* 852 persons received their third dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 5,825,603 persons have received their third vaccine dose, making up 83.6% of the population aged 12 or above
* 5,545 persons received their fourth dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 1,008,816 persons have received their fourth vaccine dose
* 826 persons received their fifth dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 46,820 persons have received their fifth vaccine dose
- a total of 20,585,132 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered for members of the public

The Government announced on January 18 that, upon communications with relevant Mainland authorities, young children aged 3 and below will no longer be required to present proof of a negative result of a COVID-19 nucleic acid test conducted within 48 hours prior to their journey from Hong Kong to the Mainland starting tomorrow (January 19).

The Government reminded members of the public that the 80-plus community testing centres and stations (CTCs and CTSs) in various districts across the city will operate as usual during the Lunar New Year to enable citizens in need of testing (including persons who plan to travel to the Mainland) to undergo testing. Opening hours will remain the same. The Government strongly advised individuals who need to undergo self-paid nucleic acid testing to book a testing time slot online in advance, such that their waiting time at CTCs and CTSs can be substantially reduced.

The Hospital Authority spokesperson announced on January 18 that in response to the epidemic developments and service demand, 11 General Out-patient Clinics will resume some earlier suspended services, including Sunday, public holiday and evening clinic services from Friday (January 20).

In response to the Government's latest anti-epidemic measures, related arrangements at the two fairs have been adjusted. The measures include that all participants must wear masks when entering or staying at the fair venues, that stall operators must provide in their stalls anti-septic hand sanitisers for use by the patrons at all times during business hours, and that they are also required to carry out cleaning and disinfection of their stalls on a daily basis using 1:99 diluted household bleach.