Latest situations of COVID-19 (Jan 21, Saturday)

TOPLINE
- 3,789 new cases [837 cases by nucleic acid tests (15 imported + 822 locally acquired); 2,952 cases by rapid antigen tests (78 imported + 2,874 locally acquired)]
- As at Jan 20, 108, 151, 817, 4,556 and 765 persons received their first, second, third, fourth and fifth dose of vaccine respectively; a cumulative total of 20,598,604 doses have been administered

- new cases tested positive by nucleic acid tests: 837 (15 imported + 822 locally acquired)
- total cases tested positive by nucleic acid tests: 1,211,031
- new cases tested positive by rapid antigen tests: 2,952 (78 imported + 2,874 locally acquired)
- total cases tested positive by rapid antigen tests: 1,640,779
- deaths: 13,052 [during the fifth wave (since December 31, 2021): 12,839]

14-day rolling sitrep of new cases (most recent figure first, in bracket: “local cases / imported cases”)
- 3,789 (3,696 / 93 ); 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 )

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 20:
* 108 persons received their first dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 6,912,121 persons have received their first vaccine dose, making up 94.6% of the population aged 3 or above
* 151 persons received their second dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 6,792,324 persons have received their second vaccine dose, making up 93.1% of the population aged 3 or above
* 817 persons received their third dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 5,827,275 persons have received their third vaccine dose, making up 83.6% of the population aged 12 or above
* 4,556 persons received their fourth dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 1,018,539 persons have received their fourth vaccine dose
* 765 persons received their fifth dose of vaccine; a cumulative total of 48,345 persons have received their fifth vaccine dose
- a total of 20,598,604 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered for members of the public

Mr Lee said, "The Government continuously relaxes anti-epidemic measures to promote the gradual resumption to normalcy of Hong Kong society while managing relevant risks. The Lunar New Year fairs, which were cancelled in the past two years, have come back this year, and members of the public could enjoy gathering and doing new year shopping at the flower markets with their families and friends again. As various events will be resumed in Hong Kong this year, society will regain the impetus for economic growth. I wish all sectors of the community every success and prosperity in the Year of the Rabbit."

Following three years of the COVID-19 epidemic, with the concerted efforts of all sectors and members of the public, Hong Kong is gradually embarking on the road to normalcy in an orderly and safe manner. As the COVID-19 epidemic in Hong Kong has entered a new stage, we have already made a series of appropriate adjustments to the anti-epidemic measures, allowing more social and economic activities to resume. The Government will continue to adhere to the principles of science-based and targeted anti-epidemic measures, as well as the proper management of risks and citizen-focused facilitation, and closely monitor the epidemic development, the latest scientific data and other information to adjust various measures in due course.

Staring from January 26, mask-wearing would be exempted under the following scenarios after the fine-tuning:
(1) when delivering a speech to participants in a religious activity as a host or speaker in a religious premises;
(2) when consuming food or drink at a table or an exhibition booth during an exhibition activity in a place of public entertainment or event premises; and
(3) when toasting on stage at an event in catering premises or any scheduled premises.

Hong Kong cross-boundary private cars with valid Mainland "Compulsory Traffic Accident Liability Insurance for Motor Vehicles" are allowed to travel in the Guangdong Province during the period from January 20 to February 19, 2023, even though they have not passed the vehicle examination as required by the Mainland authorities.

A Government spokesman stressed on January 20 that the COVID-19 nucleic acid testing capacity is ample and sufficient to meet the demand of the cross-boundary passenger flow before the Lunar New Year. There are still about 60,000 and 84,000 testing places available for booking at community testing centres/stations (CTC/CTSs) across the city for January 20 and January 21 respectively, as at 5pm on January 20.