Covid: Xi asks Hong Kong to control worst outbreak
BEIJING: China’s President Xi Jinping has told Hong Kong’s leaders that their “overriding mission” was to stabilise the worsening Covid-19 situation in the city as local authorities struggle to bring the worst outbreak of the disease under control.
Xi’s instructions were issued in the backdrop of reports from Hong Kong that talked about the health system of the financial hub being overwhelmed by Covid-19 with infected patients being forced to lie on beds outside hospitals.
Xi said Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam’s government should make stabilising the Covid-19 situation its top priority, the state-run Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao newspapers reported on Wednesday.
“The Hong Kong government must take up the main responsibility, to stabilise and control the pandemic as soon as possible as the current overriding priority, to mobilise every resource that can be mobilised, to take all necessary measures, to ensure the safety and health of all Hong Kong residents, to ensure the stability of Hong Kong’s society,” Xi was quoted as saying by the newspaper, Wen Wei Po.
WHO: New cases drop by 19%, deaths stable
The number of new coronavirus cases globally fell by 19% in the last week while the number of deaths remained stable, according to the World Health Organization. The UN health agency said late on Tuesday in its weekly report on the pandemic that just over 16 million new Covid-19 infections and about 75,000 deaths were reported worldwide last week.
Meanwhile, South Korea will distribute free rapid test kits at schools and senior care facilities starting next week as it weathers an unprecedented wave of infections driven by the fast-moving Omicron variant.
Health officials on Wednesday reported its highest daily jump in infections with 90,443 new cases, shattering the previous one-day record set on Tuesday by more than 33,000 cases. Some experts say the country could see daily cases of around 200,000 in March.