Hong Kong reports 7,533 new COVID-19 cases, 13 deaths including an infant

Hong Kong is witnessing a surge in the number of COVID cases as the country reported 7,533 cases on Monday and 13 deaths, including an 11-month-old child.

The child was admitted to hospital at around 4 am (local time) on Saturday with convulsions, and tested positive for the COVID-19 virus with a high viral load upon admission, Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported citing Lau Ka-hin, the Hospital Authority's (HA) chief manager of quality and standards, as saying.

Later that day, the patient was sent to the intensive care unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and died at 7 pm (local time).

"Some of her family members, including her caretaker, parents and grandmother, tested positive for Covid-19 via rapid antigen tests at home," Lau said.

The case will be sent to the coroner's court for investigation to ascertain the cause of the death. If confirmed, the infant would become Hong Kong's youngest Covid-19 fatality to date. Last week, a three-year-old who had tested positive for Covid-19 also passed away, HKFP reported.

Hong Kong is in the midst of its fifth wave of coronavirus infections, which began at the end of last year and has seen the city introduce its strictest anti-epidemic restrictions yet. The number of cases in the current outbreak accounts for more than three-quarters of the city's total since the pandemic began over two years ago, HKFP reported

Meanwhile, a total of 60,383 Covid-19 cases and 311 deaths have been recorded in Hong Kong to date.

( With inputs from ANI )