HONG KONG — Most of anti-epidemic medical supplies from the mainland have arrived in Hong Kong in good order and have been distributed to frontline personnel and residents in need through various channels.

These medical supplies were transported with a view to stabilizing the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said on May 6.

A spokesperson for the CEDB said with the staunch support of the central government, more than 30 types of medical supplies broadly under five main categories, namely testing, personal protection, disinfection, medication and equipment, procured with the coordination of the central government, have been received.

The supplies include 260 million rapid antigen test (RAT) kits, more than 400 million masks, around 120 million sets of personal protective equipment, and 1.6 million pulse oximeters.

The HKSAR government expressed gratitude to the central government for its donation of 600,000 boxes of anti-epidemic proprietary traditional Chinese medicines.

All of them have been distributed through the Food and Health Bureau of the HKSAR government to residents subject to "restriction-testing declarations," and through the Hospital Authority to confirmed patients in isolation facilities and those receiving treatment at 18 traditional Chinese medicine clinics.

On Friday, Hong Kong registered 144 new COVID-19 cases by nucleic acid tests, and 180 additional cases through self-reported RAT, official data showed.