The Hospital Authority has strengthened out-patient services to care for Covid-19 patients, after ending specialised services for the virus. The announcement came on Monday, the day the government formally began treating the coronavirus as a regular upper respiratory tract infection. Meanwhile, the Centre for Health Protection says 358 people tested positive for Covid through PCR tests. It reminded people that this did not represent all Covid cases in Hong Kong, as the government no longer required people with positive rapid antigen tests (RAT) to report their infections. Five more Covid patients died. Maggie Ho reports:

Mainland health officials say the current Covid-19 wave is nearly over, with no significant rebound in cases during the Lunar New Year holiday. The world's largest annual migration of people during the spring holidays had sparked worries of a resurgence in the pandemic. Natale Ching reports:

The government has revealed how it has cut down the price tag for 30,000 light public housing units (LPH) it plans to build, saying it will save millions by not installing air conditioners. Housing Secretary Winnie Ho said changes to the design of the projects would trim costs by almost $1 billion in total, and the lack of air conditioners alone would slash about $200 million from the bill. Damon Pang reports:

Lawmaker Tony Tse says a mock-up of a light public housing flat he saw was quite appealing, and such temporary housing would mean a lot to people currently living in inadequate conditions. Tse, who represents the architectural, surveying, planning and landscape sectors, said he felt the exclusion of air-conditioners was reasonable, given that air-cons were also not provided in traditional public rental units. But he told Vicky Wong that he wanted a more detailed breakdown of figures as to how the government came up with its price tag for the project:

Unmarried people will be able to legally have a child in the southwestern province of Sichuan in just over two weeks from now in a bid to boost falling birth rates. Once the measure kicks in, unwedded individuals will be free to raise a family and enjoy benefits previously reserved only for married couples. Altis Wong reports:

An expert in population policy, Stuart Gietel-Basten, says the lifting of the baby ban on unmarried couples in Sichuan is a good policy change but probably would not encourage people to have children. The University of Science and Technology social sciences professor told Damon Pang that the move did not address some of the underlying reasons as to why fertility rates were so low in Sichuan and elsewhere:

The Exchange Fund recorded an investment loss of $202.4 billion last year. The Monetary Authority - the fund's manager - says investments in bonds, stocks and foreign exchange were all in the red although gains were made in the last quarter of 2022. Simon Lee, an honorary fellow at the Chinese University's Asia-Pacific Institute of Business, told Aaron Tam that many external factors played a role in the record loss:

Cathay Pacific's chief executive, Ronald Lam, says a return is in sight for Hong Kong's aviation industry after three years of the pandemic. But he also warned of challenges still hindering a rapid return to normality. Kelly Yu reports: