Hong Kong health officials said on Tuesday that an unvaccinated 31-month-old boy is under intensive care in hospital after he was infected with Covid.

They said he had a fever on Monday and was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment. The boy was among eight coronavirus patients in critical condition.

The Hospital Authority said more than 1,800 Covid patients were being treated in public hospitals.

News of the toddler's battle with the virus came as Hong Kong reported its first cases of two Covid sub-lineages – XBD and BF.7.

Health officials said that a local patient, along with an imported case, tested positive for the XBD sub-lineage.

Three imported infections were also found to involve the BF.7 variant.

There were also 35 additional imported cases of the XBB strain and two more cases of the BQ.1.1 variant.

In total, 4,954 new Covid infections were reported on Tuesday, including 388 imported cases.

Seven more Covid patients died.
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USEFUL LINKS
General Covid-19 situation: https://www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/
Community Clinics for Covid-19 patients: https://bit.ly/3EiiczC
RAT reporting platform: https://www.chp.gov.hk/ratp/
Vaccination programme: https://www.covidvaccine.gov.hk/sen/
Vaccination pass scheme: https://www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/vaccine-pass.html
Hotline for Covid-positive patients: 1836 115