A medical expert claims that Hong Kong's health-care system is under 'immense pressure.'

• The fifth wave of COVID-19 in Hong Kong is being driven by the highly transmissible omicron strain, resulting in a sharp increase in cases from 100 at the start of February to a record 6,166 by Thursday.
• The University of Hong Kong's dean of medicine, Gabriel Leung, stated that the health system in Hong Kong is currently under immense strain.
• The surge in COVID-19 cases in the city has been attributed to the "extreme transmission speed" of the omicron variant, which has overwhelmed the city's capacity for treatment, tracing, testing, and isolation.

The health-care system in Hong Kong is under immense strain due to a surge in coronavirus cases, as a health expert stated on CNBC on Friday.

The fifth wave of COVID-19 in Hong Kong is being driven by the highly transmissible omicron strain, resulting in a sharp increase in cases from around 100 new cases per day in early February to a record 6,166 new cases on Thursday.

Currently, in Hong Kong, the health system is under immense stress and it is crucial to safeguard its integrity, according to Gabriel Leung, dean of medicine at the University of Hong Kong.

The surge in cases has been attributed to the "extreme transmission speed" of the omicron variant, resulting in a "tsunami" of news cases that has "far exceeded" the city's capacity for treatment, tracing, testing, and isolation.

The government stated that hospitals are under immense pressure due to the high occupancy rate at public hospitals, which was at 92% as of Feb. 18, according to data from Hong Kong's Hospital Authority.

Reports indicate that patients were gathered on hospital beds outside, in the open air, as facilities became overburdened.

Leung advised CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" that the city should slow down the pace of the current increase.

To slow it down now, you must decrease the number of people interacting and traveling in the city, he stated.

Regardless of whether you refer to it as a lockdown or enhanced public health and social measures, the terminology is not the main concern.

To ensure the hospital system's integrity, we must prevent people from further deteriorating if they require assistance in hospitals.

There are no plans for a citywide lockdown in Hong Kong, as stated by Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday.

The Hong Kong SAR Government is immediately enhancing its capacities in the anti-epidemic effort.

She informed reporters that there are no plans for a city-wide lockdown, as has been seen in other locations.