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LCQ17: Statistics on the confirmed cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019
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     Following is a question by Dr the Hon Pierre Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, in the Legislative Council today (October 28):

Question:

     Will the Government inform this Council of the following statistics on the confirmed cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) since January this year:

(1) the number of clusters involving five to nine cases, and set out the relevant details in Table 1;

Table 1
Name of cluster Case numbers Number of cases
     

(2) the number of cases with unknown sources;

(3) a breakdown of the numbers of (i) confirmed cases and (ii) death cases by the age group to which the patients belonged (set out in Table 2);

Table 2
Type of
cases
Age group
0 to
9
10 to
19
20 to
29
30 to
39
40 to
49
50 to
59
60 to
69
70 to
79
80 to
89
90 to
99
100 to
109
(i)                      
(ii)                      

(4) a breakdown of the numbers of (i) confirmed cases, (ii) death cases, (iii) confirmed cases involving persons aged 60 or above and (iv) death cases involving persons aged 60 or above by the date of confirmation (set out in Table 3);

Table 3
Type of cases Date of confirmation
January 1 to
February 29
March 1 to
June 30
Since July 1
(i)      
(ii)      
(iii)      
(iv)      

(5) a breakdown of the numbers of confirmed cases involving healthcare personnel and allied health professionals (i.e. (i) doctors, (ii) nurses, (iii) physiotherapists, (iv) occupational therapists, (v) clinical psychologists, (vi) dietitians, (vii) audiologists, (viii) optometrists, (ix) orthoptists, (x) speech therapists, (xi) pharmacists, (xii) dispensers, (xiii) radiographers, (xiv) medical laboratory technologists, (xv) medical social workers, (xvi) prosthetist-orthotists and (xvii) podiatrists) as well as (xviii) supporting healthcare workers by the type of healthcare facilities in which they work (set out in Table 4); and

Table 4
Staff Public hospitals Private hospitals Private clinics
(i)      
     
(xviii)      

(6) whether it knows the number of cases of compensation claims lodged, since January this year, by employees under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282) for contracting COVID-19 arising out of and in the course of their employment, together with the following information of such cases:

(i) a breakdown of the number of such cases by the industry in which the employees concerned were engaged,
(ii) the number of cases in which the employers took the initiative to notify the Government of such cases,
(iii) the number and percentage of cases of successful claims,
(iv) the reasons for the claims being unsuccessful, and
(v) the assistance provided by the Government to those employees whose claims for compensations were unsuccessful?

Reply:

President,

     Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Government has been closely monitoring the development of the epidemic situation. Guided by the three key principles of responding promptly, staying alert to the situation and working in an open and transparent manner, and having regard to experts' advice, we have implemented decisive and appropriate measures to safeguard the public's health.

     In consultation with the Labour and Welfare Bureau and the Hospital Authority, my reply to the various parts of the question raised by Dr the Hon Pierre Chan is as follows:

(1) As at October 25, 2020, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) recorded a total of 160 clusters of COVID-19 which involved five or more cases. Among them, over 120 clusters involved five to nine cases, most of which involved families, friends or workplace settings.

(2) As at October 25, 2020, the CHP of DH recorded a total 3 849 cases of locally acquired and possibly locally acquired cases of COVID-19, out of which 1 485 were locally acquired and possibly locally acquired cases with unknown sources.

(3) As at October 25, 2020, the 5 296 COVID-19 confirmed cases and 105 death cases in Hong Kong, respectively broken down by the age group to which the patients belonged to are set out in the table below:
 
Type of cases Age groups
0 to
9
10 to
19
20 to
29
30 to
39
40 to
49
50 to
59
60 to
69
70 to
79
80 to
89
90 to
99
100 to 109
Confirmed cases 210 379 863 877 807 844 785 321 153 56 1
Death cases 0 0 0 1 0 2 13 27 42 20 0

(4) As at October 25, 2020, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases, death cases, confirmed cases involving persons aged 60 or above and death cases involving persons aged 60 or above in Hong Kong, respectively broken down by the date of confirmation are set out in the table below:
 
Type of cases Date of confirmation
January 1 to
February 29, 2020
March 1 to
June 30, 2020
July 1 to
October 25, 2020
Confirmed cases 95 1 111 4 090
Confirmed cases involving persons aged below 60 51 989 2 940
Confirmed cases involving persons aged 60 or above 44 122 1 150
Death cases 3 5 97
Death cases involving persons aged below 60 1 1 1
Death cases involving persons aged 60 or above 2 4 96

(5) As at October 25, 2020, there were 39 confirmed cases which reported to be working at public hospitals, including two doctors, 11 nurses and 26 staff members from the support or executive ranks. Out of these cases, most of them are believed to be linked to infections in the community and not infection at hospitals.

     During the same period, the CHP recorded 23 confirmed cases which reported to be working at private hospitals/private clinics. The CHP does not have a breakdown of the above 23 confirmed cases by types of healthcare personnel and allied health professionals.

(6) As at September 30, 2020, the Labour Department (LD) had received a total of 217 employees' compensation claims with employees suspected to have contracted COVID-19 in employment. Reports by employers to LD had been made for 215 of the claims. The breakdown of reported claims by industry is as follows:
 
Industry Number of compensation claims
Public Administration, Social and Personal Services 49
Finance and Insurance, Real Estate, Professional and Business Services 58
Food and Beverage Services 21
Import/Export, Wholesale
and Retail Trades, Accommodation Services
10
Transportation, Storage, Postal and Courier Services, Information and Communications 63
Construction 8
Manufacturing 1
Others 7
Total 217

     Among the reported cases, one case was settled after the employer had made payment in accordance with the Certificate of Compensation Assessment issued by the Commissioner for Labour. No follow-up action could be taken in 16 cases as the employees withdrew their claims or failed to respond to LD. LD has been following up on the remaining cases.

     LD has been proactively following up on employees' compensation claims with employees suspected to have contracted COVID-19 in employment based on information published by the CHP. A note on employees' rights and protection under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance, together with the contact means of LD, has also been distributed through hospitals to all confirmed COVID-19 patients. In case of dispute over employees' compensation cases, LD will obtain medical reports and other relevant information (such as contact tracing reports) and provide its views to the employee and employer concerned on the likelihood of the case being a work injury upon the expert advice of its Occupational Health Officers. If the dispute cannot be resolved through LD, the employee may seek adjudication from the Court. LD will assist the employee in seeking assistance from the Legal Aid Department.
 
Ends/Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Issued at HKT 16:25
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