Explainer: A look at Hong Kong's worst COVID-19 wave, and mainland-aided fight

What's new in mainland support?

Ming Wai-kit said the fifth wave is believed to peak in mid- to late March, and that the HKSAR government needs to prepare the medical facilities in advance. He forecast the daily tally of new cases in Hong Kong may exceed 100,000 in the coming days.

A newly built community isolation facility (CIF) started admitting its first batch of COVID-19 patients in Hong Kong in Tuesday evening. The facility located in Tsing Yi, which is capable of accommodating about 3,900 patients, was completed within just one week on Monday with the support from the mainland.

Also on Monday, the third team of mainland health experts and personnel arrived in Hong Kong to work with the HKSAR government in fighting the latest COVID-19 outbreak. The team leader is Liang Wannian, head of the COVID-19 response expert panel under China's National Health Commission (NHC).

The team said it will exchange views fully with the HKSAR government, and make every effort to help Hong Kong to put the epidemic situation under control. The mainland experts have offered suggestions, such as how to further tighten social distancing rules and make better use of Hong Kong's strained medical resources, in order to contain the outbreak and cut the chain of transmission as soon as possible.

"We are still confident (in winning)," said Liang. "With firm support from the central government and strong leadership of the HKSAR government, we, in solid unity and with the power of science, will be able to defeat this outbreak of the virus."