London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

Hong Kong reports high of 14 new imported Omicron cases, braces for surge

Hong Kong reports high of 14 new imported Omicron cases, braces for surge

Extra 500 beds can be made quickly available at AsiaWorld-Expo facility if necessary, Hospital Authority chairman says, as officials keep wary eye on variant’s global spread.

Hong Kong has confirmed 14 new imported cases involving the Omicron coronavirus variant, including 10 identified on Saturday – the most in a single day yet – as health authorities draw up contingency plans for potential worst-case scenarios.

With the more transmissive variant spreading rapidly around the globe, senior health officials on Monday warned that the risk of the mutated strain making its way into the local community was high.

“Globally, the outbreak of Omicron and transmission speed is very fast … the risk to Hong Kong is also high,” Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said after visiting two public hospital facilities that treat Covid-19 patients.

Among the 14 new Omicron cases revealed, five arrived in the city from Kazakhstan via South Korea, while the remainder came from a wide range of countries including Germany, Ireland, Ghana, Australia, India and Spain.

The new additions, four of which were identified on Friday, took the city’s growing Omicron tally to 58 cases.

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan on Monday said the threat to Hong Kong presented by the coronavirus’ new Omicron variant was high.


Separately, the city confirmed nine Covid-19 infections on Monday, all imported. Among them were two karate athletes who were part of a group that returned from Kazakhstan on Thursday. Earlier, five other athletes of the group also tested positive when they arrived at Hong Kong’s airport.

A 42-year-old local aircrew member who returned from Australia on Friday and tested positive the next day at the government’s Penny’s Bay quarantine facility was also among the latest Covid-19 cases.

All nine new infections carried the two key mutations linked to Omicron, but whole genome sequencing would be needed to determine if they involved the variant.

The city’s tally of confirmed infections stood at 12,598, with 213 related deaths.

There were fewer than 10 preliminary-positive cases on Monday. One of the cases – involving a mutated strain – from this group triggered an overnight lockdown at a residential building in Shek Tong Tsui on Monday night.

According to a source, the infection was imported and involved an aircrew member exempted from quarantine.

Chan said health authorities had met before Christmas to draw up contingency plans that would go into effect in the event of a new wave, as officials would not be able to respond quickly enough if planning waited until a community spread had begun.

Hospital Authority chairman Henry Fan Hung-ling, who joined Chan in speaking to reporters, said the city would have enough public beds ready should a fifth wave emerge.

There are currently 900 negative-pressure beds – designed to handle patients with infectious diseases – available at the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre and Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung.

But those can be supplemented at short notice, according to Fan.

“If an outbreak continues, our next step will be resuming the use of the AsiaWorld-Expo community treatment facility, where there will be an extra 500 beds available for use,” he said.

Fan noted there would also be about 1,100 first-tier isolation beds, used for more serious patients, as well as 600 second-tier beds for more stable cases at different public hospitals.

“We now hope for the best, but prepare for the worst,” he said.

Hong Kong residents queue for Sinovac jabs in Jordan on Monday.


At the moment, there are about 150 Covid-19 patients under the care of the city’s public hospitals system, including about 50 who have been discharged but are completing 14 days of isolation before returning to the community.

Dr Tony Ko Pat-sing, chief executive for the authority, said it also had a list of staff ready to be allocated to AsiaWorld-Expo if needed. Authorities had also completed a review of equipment, such as ventilators, and medications that would be needed in case of a surge in cases.

The AsiaWorld-Expo was converted into a community treatment facility in August last year, and put on standby in March this year.

Chan said the government was also looking into whether there would be enough quarantine hotels available for close contacts of Covid-19 patients and travellers covered under a new subset of the city’s highest-risk category if the Penny’s Bay quarantine centre was full.

Both groups are currently required to quarantine at the government facility for anywhere from four to 21 days.

Meanwhile, Macau confirmed its first Omicron case on Monday, centred on a 23-year-old student who returned to the casino hub from the United States via Singapore.

Mainland China, which is grappling with an outbreak, on Sunday reported 200 Covid-19 cases, of which 162 were local.

On whether the rise in infections across the border would affect the long-awaited reopening of the border with Hong Kong, as well as whether the mainland would be added to the city’s growing list of high-risk places after reports of Omicron cases there, Chan only said a travel mechanism was in place, and that it took into account the various epidemic situations.

Authorities on both sides were also preparing for the reopening of the border, she added.

Under the “Return2HK” scheme, which allows Hong Kong residents to skip quarantine upon returning from the mainland and Macau, places with outbreak risks will be removed from the arrangement.

Earlier on Monday, respiratory medicine expert Dr Leung Chi-chiu said Hong Kong needed to begin limiting the number of flight passengers from high-risk countries and prevent them from coming into contact with airport staff to avoid a community outbreak of Covid-19.

The warning followed a Cathay Pacific aircrew member recently testing positive for the coronavirus after returning from the United States.

Leung said the city’s airport was the major source for imported cases, noting that Hong Kong still allowed non-residents from high-risk destinations to transfer through the airport, posing a threat to the city’s virus control efforts.

“This increases the risks of cross-infections between transferring passengers from high-risks places and all the other passengers,” he told a local radio programme. “The fewer the arrivals from the high-risk places, the better.”

The Dominican Republic, Kosovo and Malta would be added to the city’s high-risk group, starting from Thursday, after Omicron cases were detected there. Visitors from these areas will be banned from entering the city, while fully vaccinated residents can return but must serve the full 21-day quarantine.

Leung said testing was crucial to prevent the virus from entering the community, as the highly transmissive Omicron variant, which often came in asymptomatic form, could cause reinfection, including in those who were fully vaccinated.

Airport staff, he suggested, should be tested daily.

Leung said the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, especially in the US and Britain, where it was now dominant, posed a grave threat to the city given the unbalanced vaccination rates among different groups.

He added the next two months would be crucial in virus prevention, as infections in high-risk destinations were expected to begin falling after that point.

Speaking on the same radio programme, Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen appealed to holdouts in the city to get vaccinated while urging those who had already received two shots to get a booster.

Earlier in December, a survey showed that nearly half of those who were still unvaccinated did not intend to get jabbed.

There are currently hundreds of negative-pressure beds – designed to handle patients with infectious diseases – available at the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre.


Bookings for a third jab will open to all age-eligible residents, regardless of risk category, at 8am on January 1.

He also urged residents aged 12 to 17 who had received their first dose of the BioNTech vaccine at least three months ago to get a second dose, in line with the most recent guidance.

The number of community vaccination centres will be reduced from the current 21 to 10 at the beginning of next year, leaving seven to administer the BioNTech vaccine and three for Sinovac.

Those will be joined by a new mobile station aimed at facilitating vaccination among the elderly on January 7, according to Nip.

The remaining vaccination centres, along with the 13 public hospitals, private clinics and other facilities offering jabs, would be able to meet public demand, he said, with a capacity of 35,000 doses administered each day.

Nip added that the city had used 6.1 million out of a total 8.5 million BioNTech doses acquired, but that the existing supply was sufficient.

“The risk of severe symptoms and death from the highly transmissive [Omicron variant] is worrying,” he said.

“Vaccination can help reduce the transmission speed and chances of community outbreak, and protect people from the risk of severe symptoms or death.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×