In Hong Kong, there have been 32,430 reported cases of COVID, with 264 deaths.
HONG KONG, March 13 (Reuters) - On Sunday, Hong Kong health authorities reported 32,430 additional COVID-19 cases, as the city's leader said her government was attempting to expand capacity to deal with the crisis that has swept through care homes.
Although chief executive Carrie Lam said government efforts were improving, she said she had yet to contact anyone in isolation to see if people needed help.
"With so many people placed under isolation or quarantine, the government has enhanced its capacity to support them. However, we're still catching up," she told reporters.
According to the study, 300,000 people were isolating at home as the Omicron variant sweeps across the heavily congested financial hub, overwhelming its health care system, and causing panic purchases at some supermarkets.
On Sunday, health authorities reported 32,430 new positive cases in Hong Kong, versus 27,647 new infections on Saturday, and 29,381 new infections on Friday. On Sunday, authorities reported 248 new fatalities.
Since early 2020, Hong Kong has recorded over 700,000 COVID-19 infections and around 3,500 fatalities, the majority of them in the last two weeks. Most of the fatalities are among unvaccinated senior citizens.
Hong Kong, like mainland China, is adopting a "dynamic zero" approach that seeks to combat infection by strict control measures, even as most other major cities learn to live with the virus.
China is now experiencing its own epidemic, with mainland Chinese authorities on Sunday reporting 1,807 new local symptomatic COVID-19 cases, more than triple the caseload of the previous day, and the highest in two years. L2N2VG00Z
According to a data publication Our World in Data, Hong Kong recorded the most deaths per million people worldwide in the week ended March 9.
Lam said on Saturday that she could not sleep enough to say that virus numbers had reached.
Xia Baolong, a senior Chinese official overseeing Hong Kong's affairs, said on Saturday that the situation was still severe and advised residents to prepare mentally for a "long-term conflict."
In Hong Kong, there have been 32,430 reported cases of COVID, with 264 deaths.