Hong Kong on Tuesday recorded another 8,848 Covid infections, including 237 imported cases.
The Hospital Authority said more than 2,500 Covid patients were being treated in public hospitals, 13 of them in intensive care.
Another 13 patients with Covid-19 have died. They were aged between 54 and 97.
Health officials said they expect infection numbers to further increase as the highly transmissible BA.5 Omicron subvariant has become the dominant strain in Hong Kong.
"BA.5 has been the prevalent strain in many places over the world including Hong Kong at the moment," said Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection.
"We understand that BA.5 is more transmissible so this may cause a further increase in the number of cases. It is within our expectation that the number of cases will further increase."
______________________________
USEFUL LINKS
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/3l5CkKv
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