(To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Hospital Authority today reminded the public to maintain vigilance against COVID-19 as not just the elderly are susceptible to the virus.

The authority's Coordinating Committee in Intensive Care Member Dr Kenny Chan told a press briefing this afternoon that 1,022 COVID-19 confirmed cases have been recorded since November 1, of which 36 are in a critical condition in public hospitals.

Among the critically ill patients, six are aged under 60.

Dr Chan noted that unlike in the previous waves of the epidemic, the health condition of fourth wave patients deteriorated in hospital.

"For the critically ill young patients with COVID-19, they all came in because of severe respiratory failure. That means their lungs fail to oxygenate the blood and many of them require mechanical ventilation - they are put on a respirator.

"And to my knowledge, one of the patients is now on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or an artificial lung to support the situation.

"So these are very critical cases and the expected mortality rate could be more than 30% or 40%.

"I would like to remind the public again that this is not a disease limited to the elderly. Everyone should stay extra vigilant against this virus."

Currently, more than 70% of public hospital isolation beds are in use, while the usage rate of negative pressure beds in intensive care units has also reached 70%.

The authority will divert patients to different hospitals and reduce some non-emergency surgeries at the intensive care units in order to relieve the pressure, Dr Chan added.