Hong Kong reports more than 6,000 new cases in virus surge

Hong Kong has reported 15 coronavirus deaths and more than 6,000 confirmed cases for a second day as the government announced plans to ease crowding in hospitals by building more isolation units

APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Hong Kong (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Hong Kong has reported 15 coronavirus deaths and more than 6,000 confirmed cases for a second day in its latest infection surge.

The government on Saturday also announced plans to ease crowding in hospitals by building isolation units for 10,000 patients.

There were 6,063 confirmed cases in the previous 24 hours, raising the Chinese territory’s total to 46,763. That was down slightly from Thursday’s 6,116 but one of Hong Kong’s highest daily totals.

Hong Kong has tightened travel and business curbs as it tries to contain its latest virus surge. On Friday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the election for her post would be postponed by six weeks to May 8 due to public health risks.

Also Saturday, Lam’s government announced construction teams from mainland China would build isolation and treatment units in the Penny’s Bay and Kai Tak districts.