HONG KONG - Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Thursday bade farewell to the last section of the mainland medical team departing Hong Kong during an appreciation and farewell ceremony organized by the HKSAR government.

To support Hong Kong's fight against the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the central government and the Guangdong provincial government earlier sent a mainland medical team to assist in the treatment of COVID-19 patients at the request of the HKSAR government. The medical team consisted of 391 healthcare professionals from different disciplines in 25 mainland medical institutions.

During their stay in Hong Kong, the mainland medical support team worked closely with the healthcare team of the Hospital Authority to enhance admission capacity of the community treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo within a short period of time, allowing more COVID-19 patients in need to receive appropriate treatment and accelerated the overall patient turnover, which in turn assisted the HKSAR government to fully implement the multi-tiered triage and treatment strategy.

Lam expressed in her speech the heartfelt gratitude on behalf of the HKSAR to the mainland medical team for joining the frontline of treating COVID-19 patients when the pandemic situation in Hong Kong was at its worst. She believed that Hong Kong will soon be out of the COVID-19 pandemic and welcomed the mainland medical team to re-visit Hong Kong as a tourist and to renew the friendship with medical comrades in Hong Kong.

He Jing, deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, said that the mainland medical team has demonstrated a very high level of professionalism and dedication, and has been widely praised by all sectors of the Hong Kong community.

"The current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong has improved significantly, which is inseparable from the contribution of the mainland medical team to Hong Kong, once again proving that the motherland is always the firmest backup for Hong Kong," He said.

Leader of the mainland medical team Chong Yutian said that the medical team members feel invigorated at the sight of vitality being restored in Hong Kong, adding that with the support of the central government and the concerted efforts of all Hong Kong people, the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has been stabilized.

Chong said that the mainland medical team wishes Hong Kong compatriots to be healthy and safe, and welcomes further exchanges between medical workers in Hong Kong and the mainland in the future.

On Thursday, Hong Kong registered 148 new COVID-19 cases by nucleic acid tests, and 173 additional cases through self-reported RATs, official data showed.