Hong Kong records more than 8,000 new Covid cases
The number of new Covid infections in Hong Kong is climbing at an accelerated pace with the daily figure hitting its highest in almost five months on Thursday, health officials said. A total of 8,579 new infections were reported, including 297 imported cases.  More than 2,230 people were receiving treatment in public hospitals, including a dozen in intensive care.  Nine more patients, aged between 70 and 108, have died. Albert Au from the Centre for Health Protection warned that the daily number of new infections could soon pass the 10,000-mark. "There is a quite rapid increase in cases, indicating that the transmission in the community is increasing. There is a need for the general public to take additional precautionary measures in preventing transmission and infection," Au said. Larry Lee, a chief manager of the Hospital Authority, said a Covid cluster linked to a wedding banquet over the weekend saw five more doctors from various hospitals come down with the virus, bringing the tally to 11.  He said no patients were classified as close contacts and authorities have made new staffing arrangements in response to the outbreak.  "We have made use of some internal deployments, and also we cancelled some vacation leave of some of the doctors, so the hospital service is not influenced," Lee said.