Hong Kong’s Covid reinfections surge by 4 times, experts say no cause of concern

Hong Kong: As China continues to reel under a wave of Covid-19 infections, data shows that reinfections in Hong Kong have increased by four times over the past three months. Health experts have, however, claimed that the trend is not a cause for concern. Latest official statistics reveal that the rate of reinfection across last month was about six per cent, an increase of 1.5 per cent recorded in September. Dr Leung Chi-chiu, a respiratory medicine expert said that the surge in reinfections was anticipated as the last major outbreak happened more than six months ago in March 2022. He said, “As time goes by, even after the first infection, the antibodies and T-cells in the body will drop because they no longer have to fight against the virus.” “For most reinfection cases, the symptoms are milder than the first infection,” Dr Chi-chiu added. ‘Elderly people more at risk of reinfections’ Professor Ivan Hung Fan-ngai said that the elderly and immunocompromised population of Hong Kong are more susceptible to reinfections than others. This is because their antibodies would have dropped three months after they were infected for the first time. “Even though the health system is slightly stretched, hybrid immunity is most robust in Hong Kong and most [reinfection] cases are very mild if you’re fully vaccinated,” he said. Hung added that the data on reinfection rate should not create panic, saying that Covid should be treated as any other respiratory viral infection. Covid in Hong Kong According to a report by South China Morning Post, Hong Kong began to witness a rise in corona cases in early November and after crossing 29,000 cases at the end of December, the number of cases started to decline. On Wednesday, health officials confirmed 16,423 infections in the Chinese city and 63 related deaths. In March last year, the city underwent its fifth Covid wave which was also the most severe of the pandemic yet. The wave was mostly driven by Omicron’s subvariant BA.2. Health officials said that even though there was a rise in the number of cases in Hong Kong last month, 46.2 per cent of which were reinfections, most these cases were mild. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram