Hong Kong SAR sets daily record for COVID-19 cases

Hong Kong reported 123 newly confirmed novel coronavirus cases on Friday, setting its all-time daily high for the third day running, as health authorities warned that the city's medical system was reaching a tipping point.

Friday also saw another elderly patient become the special administrative region's 16th COVID-19-related fatality.

The newly confirmed cases also include a record number of 115 locally transmitted cases, with the infection sources of 53 yet to be determined, said Chuang Shukkwan, head of the Communicable Disease Branch at the Centre for Health Protection. The city's overall case tally stood at 2,372, but Chuang added that there were another 100 preliminary cases pending further tests.

The newest cases came after the city saw 113 and 118 cases on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, a continuation of a third local outbreak that has stretched the city's public health system nearly to capacity.

"Testing capacity, quarantine facilities and hospital capacity are reaching the limit. If this trend continues, it's very difficult for us to handle matters," Chuang said.

As of Friday, over 76 percent of isolation beds at the city's public hospitals were occupied.

During a videoconference led by the National Health Commission on Friday, about 30 health experts from the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao discussed how to build and manage a large makeshift hospital to accommodate COVID-19 patients and how to conduct mass virus testing and manage community health.

Yu Yanhong, a member of the National Health Commission Party Leadership Group, said during the meeting that the mainland will support the HKSAR government in order to rein in the recent resurgence.

A potential site for this makeshift hospital could be Asia World-Expo, as Hong Kong's health authorities are already converting the exhibition center into a massive isolation facility for patients. About 100 beds, with another 150 to 200 reserved for future expansion, are said to be provided as a community treatment center and a temporary quarantine center for elderly residents of nursing homes.

On Friday, a 74-year-old man died of COVID-19 at United Christian Hospital. He was a resident at Kong Tai Care for the Aged Centre before being hospitalized on July 9.

He was the fourth resident to have succumbed to the disease from the elderly care home in Tsz Wan Shan. The home is associated with the city's largest infection cluster in the latest outbreak which began in early July, with 44 residents, employees and family members infected.

The pathogen continued to spread at other eldercare centers. A resident at the Salvation Army Lung Hang Residence for Senior Citizens in Tai Wai was confirmed infected on Friday, with another two residents testing preliminarily positive for the contagion. A cleaner and a chef at the facility also tested positive.

About 50 residents were evacuated and transferred to a quarantine facility on Friday afternoon.

Despite the worrying rise in local transmissions, Executive Councilor Lam Ching-choi told China Daily that the government hasn't considered a lockdown order banning residents from leaving their homes.

The doctor said the government believes social distancing rules previously introduced will work, but a few more days are needed to see a drop in the infection numbers due to the disease's incubation period.

Gabriel Leung Cheuk-wai, dean of the University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Medicine, said at a news conference on Thursday that he expects the daily count of new cases to peak in two weeks.