Hong Kong's daily Covid tally passed the 4,000 mark on Thursday, with the Centre for Health for Protection reporting 4,375 cases, 299 of them imported.

Health officials said another 163 people with Covid had been taken to hospital, meaning a total of 1,233 patients were receiving care. Five people were in intensive care.

Three people with Covid, aged between 93 and 99, died in the past 24 hours. Officials said all three had suffered from hypertension.

The centre's Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan said Hong Kong has seen a gradual increase in the number of Covid cases over the past few weeks.

"There are no signs of a decrease in numbers. Maybe we have not yet seen the peak," she said.

Chuang said the government is considering asking care home staff to undergo more frequent PCR testing, on top of their daily rapid test, to help prevent outbreaks.

"We are afraid that as care homes are populated with frail elderly people, they may be suffering from more severe illnesses, or even die. That's why we think that increasing the frequency of testing among the staff is a good move."

Chuang also said the authorities will step up the issuing of compulsory testing notices in an attempt to detect infections early, particularly at residential buildings.

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USEFUL LINKS
General Covid-19 situation: https://www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/
Community Clinics for Covid-19 patients: https://bit.ly/3a4BZFE
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