Hong Kong Braces for Lockdown as Daily Cases Breach 55,000

Mandatory city-wide testing reported to begin in late March
Growing Covid chaos led U.S. to warn against Hong Kong travel

WATCH: Covid patients at Hong Kong’s government-run Penny’s Bay quarantine camp are experiencing a strained isolation system. Source: Bloomberg

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By Annie Lee and Michelle Fay Cortez

March 1, 2022 at 11:10 PM UTC

Updated on

March 2, 2022 at 9:13 AM UTC

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Hong Kong reported a record of more than 55,000 daily new infections on Wednesday as the city’s spiraling outbreak sees thousands of residents flee while those remaining strip shelves of food and medicine.

The figure is up from 32,597 a day earlier. Health authorities also announced 117 deaths, mostly people from care facilities, and said there are 64 patients in critical condition in hospital.