The Hospital Authority (HA) says it is resuming visiting arrangements for non-acute wards at 26 public hospitals from Friday as the Covid situation in Hong Kong further eases.

The announcement came as the SAR reported 290 new Covid infections on Tuesday.

A chief manager of the HA, Larry Lee, said officials understand that the public want to visit their family and friends who are staying in hospitals.

"Each patient can arrange one or two visits per week, with one registered visitor meeting them for up to one hour. The visitor must have received at least two doses of vaccination not less than 14 days ago, and provide proof of a negative PCR test taken within the past 48 hours, or a rapid test taken in the past 24 hours," Lee said.

"If the visitor is a recovered Covid patient, they are exempt from the requirements for three months from their recovery."

Lee added that visiting arrangements may be gradually relaxed further in accordance with the latest developments of the epidemic.

Twenty-one imported infections were recorded on Tuesday, two of which were discovered via community testing centres after the patients completed their hotel quarantine.

But officials said they could be repositive cases, noting the pair – who flew in from the UK and Australia – had both recently recovered from the coronavirus.

Another seven people infected with Covid have died, pushing Hong Kong's death toll in the fifth Covid wave to 9,112.

Meanwhile, officials said over 2,000 schools have resumed face-to-face classes so far, and schools reported 45 infections on Tuesday – involving 37 pupils and eight members of staff.

Eighteen of them tested positive on Tuesday morning, while the rest had tested positive over the long weekend.

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USEFUL LINKS
List of Hospitals with Special Visiting Arrangement: https://gia.info.gov.hk/general/202107/19/P2021071900447_372600_1_1626678326302.pdf
General Covid-19 situation: https://www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/
Covid-19 testing: https://www.communitytest.gov.hk/en/
Community testing notices: https://bit.ly/3ivX2Ce
Community Clinics for Covid-19 patients: https://bit.ly/3q3tz6G
RAT reporting platform: https://www.chp.gov.hk/ratp/
Vaccination programme: https://www.covidvaccine.gov.hk/sen/
Vaccination pass scheme: https://www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/vaccine-pass.html
Hotline for Covid-positive patients: 1836 115