Hong Kong Covid-19 death toll climbs to 100

Hong Kong, Sep 12 The coronavirus death toll in Hong Kong increased to 100 on Saturday after a new fatality was reported, authorities said.

The Center for Health Protection reported 13 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, taking the total tally to 4,938, reports Xinhua news agency.

Five local cases were identified under a mass testing program.

Hong Kong reported its first Covid-19 death on February 14 and had seen no more than 10 deaths before July.

But the third wave of the pandemic since early July has caused over 80 deaths in two months, with nearly 60 in August alone.

As of Saturday morning, more than 1.6 million samples had been collected under the mass testing program launched on September 1.

The Hong Kong government has taken several rounds of strict measures since the outbreak of the pandemic to expand testing capacity, boost quarantine facilities, and cut the transmission chain as far as possible.

( With inputs from IANS )