In an open-air corridor, under a series of makeshift tents, dozens of people with Covid or suspected of the disease were waiting, lying on stretchers to be admitted to the hospital.
Days later, these patients — mostly elderly — managed to get in.
The scene took place in mid-February at the Caritas Medical Center in Hong Kong.
A month later, hospitals continue to deal with an increasing number of infected as the territory goes through its worst wave of SARS-CoV-2.
Over the past two years, Hong Kong has emerged as a model in controlling the pandemic. By the end of 2021, this region of 7.5 million had recorded just 12,650 cases and fewer than 220 deaths.
However, since February, infections and deaths have increased dramatically, reaching nearly 700,000 cases and about 3,500 deaths, according to the Reuters news agency. On Sunday alone, authorities reported 32,430 new cases and 248 deaths.
And on March 2, Hong Kong passed the 50,000-case mark in one day, also becoming the place with the highest death rate in the world.
Most fatal cases were recorded in unvaccinated patients over 70 years of age.
Hong Kong had more than 37 daily deaths per million inhabitants, according to March 15 data from the Our World in Data which take into account the average of seven days. At the same time, in Brazil, this index was 1.83.
Zero tolerance
Like mainland China, Hong Kong has adopted a zero-tolerance strategy for the virus, which implies imposing strict control measures, although other parts of the world, especially after the advent of vaccines, have opted for the path of learning to live with it. the virus.
For two years, the use of masks, a limit on the number of participants in public meetings, an aggressive virus detection system and the isolation of positive cases and their contacts, as well as travel restrictions, have been in force in the territory.
Given the scale of this fifth wave, the government has introduced some changes to its health policies (social distancing measures have been intensified, allowing home isolation, as government isolation centers are overloaded).
But even though the head of the self-government, Carrie Lam, assured that Hong Kong had not planned to impose a confinement during the mandatory Covid tests that were originally scheduled for March, but were later postponed, the simple idea generated anxiety in the population.
After all, what is behind the sharp increase in cases?
Low vaccination rates
Among the main problems that have boosted the number of infections and deaths in Hong Kong are the arrival of the omicron variant, which is much more contagious than its predecessors, and the low rate of vaccination among the elderly population.
According to Grace Tsoi, the BBC’s Hong Kong correspondent, about 76.2% of people over 11 are fully vaccinated, but less than a third of people over 80 have received two doses.
“There was very little Covid in Hong Kong this whole time, so very few people knew of anyone who had Covid or died from the disease. Automatically, a very important incentive for vaccination disappeared,” explains Siddharth Sridhar, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong.
Hesitation over vaccines has also taken root in Hong Kong, in part, due to low trust in authorities following political unrest in recent years.
Hong Kong scored the lowest on vaccine acceptance and effectiveness compared to five other territories, including Singapore, the UK and the US, in a study conducted by the City University of Hong Kong last May.
At the same time, it was observed that this is where belief in conspiracy theories is most entrenched.
Out of a maximum score of seven, Hong Kong respondents scored nearly four when asked if the vaccine was being used to track and control the population, if it would alter human DNA, and if it was developed to make money.
For months, authorities have provided little incentive for people to be vaccinated, showing very little difference in how they treat people who are vaccinated and those who are not.
Last week, however, Lam acknowledged that the city had not done enough to encourage vaccination, despite the wide availability of vaccines and clinics to deliver them, and urged people of all ages to get vaccinated, especially the elderly.
Read more on the BBC
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