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Saturday, Feb 22, 2025
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Minimum age for jabs may get lower as fifth-wave toll on children bemoaned
Authorities are considering an expansion of the vaccination scheme to make children aged under three eligible for Covid jabs, health secretary Lo Chung-mau said, adding the fifth wave had claimed the lives of seven children aged under 11.
Lo's comments came after the SAR logged 2,268 cases yesterday, with 2,085 local infections and the remainder being imported cases.
Lo took to his blog yesterday to discuss Covid's impact on children, saying: "According to the University of Hong Kong's research on 1,144 children aged under 11, 1.8 percent infected were sent to intensive care units and 0.2 percent died." He added children who were infected are at greater risk of serious complications such as multisystem inflammations and neurocranial damage.
Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection's communicable diseases branch, spoke more broadly on the latest cases, noting that Ying Wa College in Cheung Sha Wan was particularly hard hit, with 23 students across four classes infected.
Five other schools - Salesians of Don Bosco Ng Siu Mui Secondary School in Kwai Chung, Twghs Chiap Hua Cheng's Nursery School in Chai Wan, Tuen Mun Government Primary School, GCCITKD Cheong Wong Wai Primary School and HKFEW Wong Cho Bau Secondary School in Tung Chung - also saw outbreaks.
The Hotpot Foodie cluster in Kwun Tong involving either the Omicron BA.4 or BA.5 subvariant saw one more diner test positive, bringing the tally to 16 diners and three close contacts.
Eight of the fresh cases involved the BA.4 or BA.5 subvariants, including four untraceable cases.
There were also 10 cases carrying the BA.2.12.1 subvariant.
In Macau, 89 new cases were reported, taking the tally of the city's latest outbreak to 941.
A new round of citywide PCR testing will be launched for Macau's 650,000 residents today. Authorities also required high-risk groups - such as security guards, cleaners and property management workers - to undergo daily tests for four consecutive days starting today.
Lo took to his blog yesterday to discuss Covid's impact on children, saying: "According to the University of Hong Kong's research on 1,144 children aged under 11, 1.8 percent infected were sent to intensive care units and 0.2 percent died." He added children who were infected are at greater risk of serious complications such as multisystem inflammations and neurocranial damage.
Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection's communicable diseases branch, spoke more broadly on the latest cases, noting that Ying Wa College in Cheung Sha Wan was particularly hard hit, with 23 students across four classes infected.
Five other schools - Salesians of Don Bosco Ng Siu Mui Secondary School in Kwai Chung, Twghs Chiap Hua Cheng's Nursery School in Chai Wan, Tuen Mun Government Primary School, GCCITKD Cheong Wong Wai Primary School and HKFEW Wong Cho Bau Secondary School in Tung Chung - also saw outbreaks.
The Hotpot Foodie cluster in Kwun Tong involving either the Omicron BA.4 or BA.5 subvariant saw one more diner test positive, bringing the tally to 16 diners and three close contacts.
Eight of the fresh cases involved the BA.4 or BA.5 subvariants, including four untraceable cases.
There were also 10 cases carrying the BA.2.12.1 subvariant.
In Macau, 89 new cases were reported, taking the tally of the city's latest outbreak to 941.
A new round of citywide PCR testing will be launched for Macau's 650,000 residents today. Authorities also required high-risk groups - such as security guards, cleaners and property management workers - to undergo daily tests for four consecutive days starting today.
