On February 27, the Department of Health of the Hong Kong SAR Government reported that as of 00:00 a.m. on the 27th, there were 26,026 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Hong Kong, including 7 imported cases and 26,019 local cases.
Feng Zijian, an expert who participated in guiding the mainland's anti-epidemic work in aiding Hong Kong and vice president and secretary general of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency on February 26 that the current new crown pneumonia epidemic in Hong Kong is still in an accelerated upward period, and various measures have been taken to try to suppress the upcoming peak of the epidemic, which has become an urgent task in Hong Kong's anti-epidemic work.
According to the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, 83 more confirmed patients have passed away in the past 24 hours, including 53 men and 30 women, aged between 19 and 100. According to HA data, since the outbreak of the fifth wave of COVID-19, a total of 512 confirmed patients have passed away in public hospitals in Hong Kong, of which nearly 90% are elderly people over 65 years old.
Why has the number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong risen so fast?
Why has the number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong risen so fast? On the one hand, the sharp increase in confirmed cases is related to the SAR government's updating of testing methods. On 25 February, the HKSAR Government changed its guidelines to allow persons who have tested positive for rapid tests to register positive results directly through the online system, which can be considered positive cases without the need for nucleic acid test confirmation, and directly recognize the test results of rapid tests and private laboratories. On the other hand, the epidemic situation in Hong Kong is still in a period of accelerated rise.
Feng Zijian, Vice President and Secretary General of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association
Feng Zijian said frankly, "At present, the fifth wave of the epidemic in Hong Kong is in a period of rapid spread and accelerated rise. According to the predictions of Professor Leung Cheuk Wai of the University of Hong Kong, the epidemic will peak around mid-March. In the near future, the number of confirmed cases per day will continue to rise. This will put a lot of pressure on Hong Kong's healthcare system. "With the full support of the central government, the Hong Kong SAR government is doing its best to expand the capacity of admission and treatment, and the 8 square cabin hospitals assisted by the mainland are being built in full swing." ”
Suppressing the peak of the epidemic is a top priority in Hong Kong's fight against the epidemic
Feng Zijian said that the current top priority for epidemic prevention and control in Hong Kong is to adopt non-medical public health measures, try to suppress the peak of the epidemic and reduce the pressure on the medical system as much as possible.
He said that the mainland expert group and officials and experts from the health department of the SAR discussed the necessity and timing of further tightening public health and social prevention and control measures. Reducing human contact is an important strategy to suppress the spread of COVID-19, which is good for suppressing the peak of the epidemic.
"As the epidemic continues to develop, the window period for the implementation of tightening public health and social prevention and control measures is getting shorter and shorter. Timing is important, and if it is decided to implement, it should be rolled out as soon as possible. Feng Zijian said.
On February 25, at the Mobile Testing Station in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong, citizens lined up for nucleic acid testing. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lu Binghui
In the face of the future trend of the epidemic in Hong Kong, Feng Zijian said that the situation is indeed more severe, but we must also see the favorable factors for the current fight against the epidemic: first, the full support of the central government and the concerted efforts of hong Kong society; second, Hong Kong has relatively advanced medical technology and equipment, and the quality of medical personnel is relatively high; third, the Hong Kong citizens have a strong sense of abiding by the law and the awareness of epidemic prevention; fourth, the mainland has rich experience in fighting the epidemic and epidemic prevention, which can be used as a reference for Hong Kong. (Lu Yang)