Xi presses Hong Kong to curb covid outbreak

HONG KONG — Coronavirus patients lay in hospital beds or open-air tents amid record numbers of infections in Hong Kong, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping has pressed the local government to control the situation. Hong Kong has topped 2,000 new covid-19 cases each day this week. The city government has already instituted strict rules banning gatherings of more than two households. But health care facilities are beginning to overflow, and the city’s Caritas Medical Center was forced Wednesday to treat some patients in beds outside the building. Xi directed Vice Premier Han Zheng to express to Hong Kong leader Carrie…