Latest situations of COVID-19 (Jan 20, Friday)

TOPLINE
- 4,015 new cases [843 cases by nucleic acid tests (11 imported + 832 locally acquired); 3,172 cases by rapid antigen tests (111 imported + 3,061 locally acquired)]
- As at Jan 19, 108, 179, 832, 5,057 and 741 persons received their first, second, third, fourth and fifth dose of vaccine respectively; a cumulative total of 20,592,116 doses have been administered
- The Government decided to cancel the arrangement of issuing isolation orders to infected persons according to the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation (Cap. 599A) from January 30

- new cases tested positive by nucleic acid tests: 843 (11 imported + 832 locally acquired)
- total cases tested positive by nucleic acid tests: 1,210,194
- new cases tested positive by rapid antigen tests: 3,172 (111 imported + 3,061 locally acquired)
- total cases tested positive by rapid antigen tests: 1,637,827
- deaths: 13,010 [during the fifth wave (since December 31, 2021): 12,797]

14-day rolling sitrep of new cases (most recent figure first, in bracket: “local cases / imported cases”)
- 4,015 ( 3,893 / 122 ); 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 )

Provisional analysis of the first 12,747 reported death cases in the 5th wave:
- Vaccination history
　- Received 4 doses (reached 14 days): 2%
　- Received 3 doses (reached 14 days): 14%
　- Received 2 doses (reached 14 days): 13%
　- Received 1 dose (reached 14 days): 12%
　- Unvaccinated: 59%
- Over 95% fatal cases were elderly aged 60 years or above; 47% 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 19:
* 108 persons received their first dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 6,912,013 persons have received their first vaccine dose, making up 94.6% of the population aged 3 or above
* 179 persons received their second dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 6,792,170 persons have received their second vaccine dose, making up 93.1% of the population aged 3 or above
* 832 persons received their third dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 5,826,446 persons have received their third vaccine dose, making up 83.6% of the population aged 12 or above
* 5,057 persons received their fourth dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 1,013,916 persons have received their fourth vaccine dose
* 741 persons received their fifth dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 47,571 persons have received their fifth vaccine dose
- a total of 20,592,116 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered for members of the public

The Government on January 19 said that, following three years of COVID-19 epidemic in Hong Kong, with the ever evolvement of the virus and Omicron becoming the predominating variant, coupled with the enhancement of prevention and treatment capacities of the healthcare system and the handling capacity of society as a whole, the risk posed by COVID-19 to local public health has apparently altered. Considering the balance between infection risks and resumption of economic and livelihood impetus, the Government decided to cancel the arrangement of issuing isolation orders to infected persons according to the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation (Cap. 599A) from January 30.

The Government announced on January 19 that manpower has been ramped up and more registration/swabbing booths were set up at community testing centres/stations (CTC/CTSs) with high demand to cater for the surge in testing demand. Taking the testing station at Maple Street Playground as an example, the Government has acquired the football pitch next to the testing station before noon today. The number of booths for registration and payment has been tripled as a means to direct people flow. The Government will adjust the arrangements based on the actual situation of individual CTC/CTSs.

The Government noted that multiple community testing centres/stations (CTC/CTSs) still offer abundant testing places. Many of these CTC/CTSs are conveniently located in close proximity to MTR stations. Persons who wish to undergo COVID-19 nucleic acid testing can reserve a testing time slot online in advance and opt for those CTC/CTSs with fewer users for testing.

The Government reminded citizens that testing centres and stations will accord priority for testing to individuals who have made a booking, and individual testing centres and stations will be busier in the evening. As such, testees without reservation or those who undergo testing in the evening will inevitably need to wait for a longer time. If the service capacities at certain testing centres and stations have reached their limits for that day, testees without a booking will not be served and they will need to undergo testing at other testing centres and stations.

The Social Welfare Department announced that all holding centres (HCs) established in sports centres as well as some in AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE) will gradually cease operation…The HCs at Halls 9 and 11 of AWE will maintain operations until further notice.

In line with the Government's new measures, the Hospital Authority (HA) is adjusting its service to provide continuous support to COVID-19 patients in the community. Currently, confirmed patients are centralised to receive treatments in the seven designated clinics for COVID-19 confirmed cases. When the new measures come into effect, all general out-patient clinics (GOPCs) will provide treatment for COVID-19 confirmed patients. Suitable patients will be prescribed with antiviral oral drugs and receive other relevant treatments. GOPCs that had been suspended will resume normal service. The quotas reserved for patients with episodic diseases, including COVID-19 patients, will increase from 7,500 per day to over 10,000, in order to sustain support to relevant patients.

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) that 11 sports centres managed by the LCSD will gradually reopen for public use starting from February 7 (Tuesday). These venues were temporarily closed earlier for anti-epidemic purposes.