Situation of COVID-19 (23 January 2020 to 29 January 2023) The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) has updated the epidemic situation of COVID-19 (up to 29 January 2023). Between 23 January 2020 and 29 January 2023, Hong Kong has recorded a total of 1226467 and 1880112 cases tested positive by nucleic acid tests and RATs respectively for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Figure 1(i): 7-day moving average of cases tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus by nucleic acid tests since 2022 7-day moving average of reported cases 50000 7-day moving verage of cases 45000 40000 35000 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 14/01 28/01 14/01 28/01 31/12 17/12 03/12 19/11 05/11 22/10 08/10 24/09 10/09 27/08 13/08 30/07 16/07 02/07 18/06 04/06 21/05 07/05 23/04 09/04 26/03 12/03 26/02 12/02 29/01 15/01 0 01/01 5000 Date of reporting Note: Re-positive cases are excluded in Figure 1(i). Figure 1(ii): 7-day moving average of cases tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus by rapid antigen tests since 2022 7-day moving average of reported cases 7-day moving verage of cases 25000 20000 15000 10000 Date of reporting Note: Re-positive cases are excluded in Figure 1(ii). 1 31/12 17/12 03/12 19/11 05/11 22/10 08/10 24/09 10/09 27/08 13/08 30/07 16/07 02/07 18/06 04/06 21/05 07/05 23/04 09/04 26/03 12/03 26/02 12/02 29/01 15/01 0 01/01 5000 Figure 1(iii): 7-day moving average of cases tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus by nucleic acid tests in 2021 7-day moving average of reported cases in 2021 160 7-day moving verage of cases 140 120 100 80 60 40 31/12 17/12 03/12 19/11 05/11 22/10 08/10 24/09 10/09 27/08 13/08 30/07 16/07 02/07 18/06 04/06 21/05 07/05 23/04 09/04 26/03 12/03 26/02 12/02 29/01 15/01 0 01/01 20 Date of reporting Note: Re-positive cases are excluded in Figure 1(iii). Figure 1(iv): 7-day moving average of cases tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus by nucleic acid tests in 2020 7-day moving average of reported cases in 2020 160 7-day moving verage of cases 140 120 100 80 60 40 Date of reporting Note: Re-positive cases are excluded in Figure 1(iv). 2 24/12 10/12 26/11 12/11 29/10 15/10 01/10 17/09 03/09 20/08 06/08 23/07 09/07 25/06 11/06 28/05 14/05 30/04 16/04 02/04 19/03 05/03 20/02 06/02 0 23/01 20 Figure 2: Epidemic curve of cases tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus in Hong Kong between 31 December 2021 and 29 January 2023 Epidemic curve of reported cases 120000 Nnumber of cases 100000 80000 60000 40000 20000 0 Specimen collection date Nucleic acid test Rapid antigen test Table 1 shows the classification of cases reported since the 5th wave (since 31 December 2021) by importation status. Table 1: Number of cases tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus by nucleic acid tests and rapid antigen tests by classification Reporting period Imported case Locally acquired case Period total Since the 5th wave 81117 (2.62%) 3012831 (97.38%) 3093948 (100.00%) 3 Figure 3 shows the age and gender distribution of the cases between 31 December 2021 and 29 January 2023. Figure 3(i): Age and gender distribution of cases tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus by nucleic acid tests in Hong Kong Age and gender distribution 100+ 90-99 80-89 70-79 Female 60-69 Male 50-59 40-49 30-39 20-29 10-19 0-9 10.0 8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 Percentage Figure 3(ii): Age and gender distribution of cases tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus by rapid antigen tests in Hong Kong Age and gender distribution 100+ 90-99 80-89 70-79 Female 60-69 Male 50-59 40-49 30-39 20-29 10-19 0-9 10.0 8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 Percentage Source of data: Data from the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health with available information on age and gender. 4 Figure 4: Weekly rates of positive cases tested by nucleic acid tests and rapid antigen tests (by age group) between 31 December 2021 and 29 January 2023 Positive cases (per 10,000 population) Weekly rates of positive cases by age group 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 52 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 2021 2022 Date of reporting (year/week) 0-9 10 - 19 20 - 39 40 - 59 1 3 2023 60 - 79 80+ Note: Imported cases are excluded in Figure 4. Table 2: Incidences of cases tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus by nucleic acid tests and rapid antigen tests by residential districts since 2022 Region Cumulative Incidence Hong Kong 2758.6 Kowloon 3258.9 New Territories East 3311.4 New Territories West 3378.5 District Cumulative Incidence Central and Western Wan Chai Eastern Southern Kowloon City Kwun Tong Sham Shui Po Wong Tai Sin Yau Tsim Mong Islands North Sai Kung Sha Tin Tai Po Kwai Tsing Tsuen Wan Tuen Mun Yuen Long 2362.6 2152.0 3035.4 2943.3 2914.2 3573.8 3148.5 3502.3 2861.0 2721.4 3550.2 3241.7 3433.5 3263.5 3388.3 3196.2 3572.0 3312.7 Note: Data in Table 2 are shown as number of cases per 10,000 population. 5 In 2022, the death registry of Hong Kong recorded a total of 9,291 deaths with COVID-19 being the cause of death. Among these 9,291 registered deaths, 9,287 involved local cases reported during the fifth wave, while two had date of death before 2022 and the remaining two involved imported cases. Table 3: Number and estimated CFR of local cases reported and having death certificates issued in 2022 stratified by age group and vaccination status Number of local cases reported and having death certificates issued in 2022 Age group(s) All cases (Estimated CFR) History of History of receiving receiving > 3 doses 1 or 2 dose(s) of of COVID-19 COVID-19 vaccine vaccine 0 (0.00%) 2 (0.00%) Unvaccinated 0-9 8 (0.00%) 6 (0.01%) 10-19 1 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 1 (0.00%) 20-29 11 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 5 (0.00%) 6 (0.02%) 30-39 13 (0.00%) 1 (0.00%) 2 (0.00%) 10 (0.02%) 40-49 49 (0.01%) 3 (0.00%) 13 (0.01%) 33 (0.09%) 50-59 203 (0.05%) 13 (0.01%) 66 (0.04%) 124 (0.36%) 60-69 676 (0.17%) 37 (0.02%) 209 (0.14%) 430 (0.97%) 70-79 1433 (0.74%) 100 (0.12%) 388 (0.52%) 945 (2.79%) 80+ 6893 (5.01%) 419 (1.01%) 1559 (3.40%) 4915 (9.79%) Overall 9287 (0.34%) 573 (0.05%) 2244 (0.20%) 6470 (1.49%) Source of data: Data from the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health with available information on vaccination status. Remark: The estimated CFR is computed with numerator being the number of fatal cases passed away in 2022 with death certificates issued on or before December 31, 2022 having COVID-19 as the cause of death, while the denominator refers to COVID-19 tested positive cases with report date within 2022. Centre for Health Protection Department of Health Last updated on 27 July 2023 6