The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) today said the major surveillance indicators of COVID-19 reached a one-year high, urging all sectors of the community to heighten their vigilance and enhance personal hygiene and protection measures.
In addition to advising citizens to receive the initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, the CHP also recommended people at high risk to receive a booster dose in a timely manner to minimise the risk of serious complications or death after infection.
CHP Controller Dr Edwin Tsui pointed out that after the resumption of normalcy, Hong Kong experienced cycles of active periods of COVID-19 in every six to nine months.
“Taking into account local and global epidemiological data in recent years, the CHP is of the view that COVID-19 has evolved into an endemic disease with a periodic pattern.”
The CHP’s analysis suggested that the active periods are associated with the changes in the predominant circulating strains and declining herd immunity in Hong Kong.
In early 2024, the predominant strains circulated locally changed from XBB to JN.1.
In the third quarter of 2024, the strains changed from JN.1 to KP.2 and KP.3.
Since late March this year, they have further changed to XDV.
Dr Tsui said there is no evidence suggesting that XDV will cause more severe disease.
According to the latest surveillance data as of the week ending May 10, the viral load of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from sewage surveillance, the test positivity rate and the cases tested positive by nucleic acid tests in the laboratory have continued to rise over the past four weeks.
In particular, the percentage of respiratory samples testing positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus gradually increased to 13.66% from 6.21% four weeks ago, marking a record high in the past year.
For sewage surveillance, the per capita viral load of SARS-CoV-2 virus was around 710,000 copy/litre, which was also significantly higher than that of about 390,000 copy/litre four weeks ago.
During the same period, the consultation rate of COVID-19 cases at Accident & Emergency departments, general outpatient clinics and sentinel private medical practitioner clinics also recorded a significant increase.
“Based on previous statistics, we expect the activity level of COVID-19 to remain at a higher level for at least the next few weeks,” Dr Tsui added.
Regarding severe and fatal cases, the CHP recorded a total of 81 COVID-19 severe cases involving adults in the past four weeks, among which 30 were fatal cases.
Epidemiological investigations showed that 83% of the patients were aged 65 or above.
For children, the CHP has recorded five severe cases so far this year. Of which, two have underlying illnesses and three cases have not received the initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr Tsui noted that the currently prevalent XDV strain is a related variant of JN.1.
“Therefore, the JN.1 vaccine used in Hong Kong is effective in preventing the disease, reducing the risk of severe illness and death, and enhancing herd immunity.”
He urged high-risk groups, especially the elderly and those with underlying illnesses, to receive an additional booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, parents should also bring their children to complete the initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.
