Hong Kong and Singapore health authorities have issued warnings as a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across Asia, leading to a surge in cases.
In Hong Kong, the positivity rate of COVID virus testing in respiratory specimens has reached its highest level in a year, rising from 6.2% in early April to 13.7%. The Director of the Center for Health Protection in Hong Kong, Dr. Ronald Chui, stated this week that virus activity is currently “quite active.”
Data from the center shows that as of the week ending on May 3, there were 31 severe cases (including fatalities), reaching the highest level in about a year. Although this resurgence has not yet reached the infection peak of the past two years, indicators from sewer testing and COVID-related outpatient and hospitalization cases suggest that the virus is spreading rapidly in this city of over 7 million people.
Dr. Thomas Tsang, the controller of the Center for Health Protection, stated, “Based on historical data, we expect that COVID-19 pandemic activity will remain at a high level for at least the coming weeks.”
Over the past four weeks, Hong Kong has recorded 81 severe cases in adults, with a total of 30 deaths.
In a radio program on Thursday, Professor Gabriel Lau, chairman of the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases in Hong Kong and a pediatrician at the University of Hong Kong, cited data from the sewage monitoring system of the Center for Health Protection, saying, “(This year) in the 18th week, the sewage monitoring system showed that there were nearly 700,000 copies per liter of sewage.”
“Looking back at March 2024, the peak was about 400,000 copies. These objective data, independent of detection rates, indicate that the current community transmission rate is indeed higher than the peak in 2024,” he said.
The COVID virus can invade the digestive system of infected individuals and replicate, eventually entering the city’s sewage system. Countries determine the spread of the pandemic by testing the concentration of COVID virus in sewage systems.
However, Lau also mentioned that as of now, the number of severe cases and deaths does not show a parallel increase as in sewage testing results.
“If we compare severe cases, we will find that the numbers in 2025 are lower than the previous year,” he added.
Singapore has also heightened its alert status for the COVID virus. This month, Singapore released its first infection figures in nearly a year, estimating a 28% surge in cases compared to the week ending on May 3, reaching 14,200 cases with a daily increase in hospitalization numbers of around 30%. Currently, Singapore only updates its figures when there is a significant increase in cases.
The Ministry of Health in Singapore stated that there are no signs indicating that the variant virus currently spreading is more infectious or leads to more severe cases than during the initial outbreak.
The rise in cases in the two major cities in Asia comes as the COVID pandemic has been spreading across the region in recent months, indicating a cyclical pattern in local epidemics.
While other respiratory pathogens tend to be more active during colder months, the COVID virus tends to resurge in most regions of the Northern Hemisphere during the summer, suggesting that the virus can still cause significant illness even in hot weather.
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan has also tested positive for the COVID virus, leading to the cancellation of his scheduled concert in Kaohsiung, Taiwan later this week.
The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control announced on Tuesday that for the week ending on the 10th, COVID emergency cases have increased compared to the previous week but remain far lower than the same period last year. Data shows that Taiwan has accumulated 237 severe cases of COVID this year, with 43 deaths. Taiwan has been closely monitoring the COVID pandemic.
According to data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, within the past five weeks up to May 4, the positivity rate of COVID testing in patients visiting hospitals in mainland China has more than doubled.
Meanwhile, the Department of Disease Control in Thailand reported two cluster outbreaks this year, with cases rising after the Songkran Festival in April due to congregation of people.