With an explosion of Covid-19 cases in the past two weeks, several hospitals in Hong Kong have been operating beyond capacity, according to health officials, and some establishments have set up wings outside their buildings.
One of them is the Caritas Medical Center, which is located on the Kowloon Peninsula. Dozens of patients occupy beds outside, in makeshift tents.
Before the current outbreak, the Chinese-ruled territory treated Covid patients in isolated wards, but beds and a temporary large-scale treatment facility near the airport quickly filled up, according to Euronews.
Faced with the discharge, the chief executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, admitted that the response adopted by the government has not been satisfactory with the overload of hospitals and medical staff. She also acknowledged that the authorities failed to maintain the obligation of testing and isolation, adopted to control Covid in the territory.
To deal with the outbreak, the leader announced that about 3,000 public apartments and 10,000 hotel rooms would be converted into treatment units. More than 100 million test kits will also be distributed to the territory of 7.5 million people.
China, for its part, said it would help increase testing, treatment and quarantine capacity, as well as securing resources for rapid testing.
The number of cases registered this Monday (14) was 16 times greater than two weeks ago – from 84 on February 1 to 1,448, according to the Our World in Data platform. Experts, however, warn that daily infections could reach 28,000 by the end of March, higher than the total since the beginning of the pandemic of 18,494 cases.
Although data on the prevalence of the omicron variant are not available, the outbreak occurs after the arrival of the coronavirus strain detected in South Africa and which is more contagious.
There are also concerns due to the high number of elderly people who have been hesitant to get vaccinated. Of the total population, 84% received at least one dose and 74.6% are on a complete regimen, according to government data.
Coverage, however, falls according to age group. While 88.8% of those aged 40 to 49 years are fully immunized, this rate drops to 70.9% among those aged 60 to 69 years, 55% of those aged 70 to 79 years and only 26.3% for those over of 80 years.
The number of deaths, meanwhile, remains low, as in other outbreaks. This Monday, there were two confirmed deaths, and the maximum recorded in the last two weeks was three. Since the beginning of the pandemic, which has already totaled 221 deaths, the highest number of deaths on the same day was six, in August 2020, according to Our World in Data.
Despite the increase, the chief executive said there were no plans for a total lockdown of the territory. “We cannot surrender to the virus. This is not an option,” Lam said at a press conference, reinforcing his “Covid zero” strategy, similar to that adopted by China. Beijing, however, has adopted tough travel restrictions to contain outbreaks.
The Hong Kong leader did not rule out, on the other hand, the possibility of postponing the elections for the command of the territory, on March 27. According to Lam, who has not confirmed whether he will seek a second five-year term, the situation will be continually reviewed given “the severity and speed of this latest wave”.
The election for chief executive of the former British colony has never been postponed since the United Kingdom returned it to Beijing in 1997. In the election, a committee of 1,500 people, scrutinized by the authorities for their patriotism and loyalty to China, choose their leader. .
Two years ago, the authorities postponed the legislative ones due to the coronavirus. The election, which has popular participation to choose some seats, took place in December last year.
In this period, tough restrictions kept Hong Kong’s borders closed, and Covid down – but the population is already showing fatigue. Churches, pubs, schools and gyms remain closed, and public gatherings of more than two people are prohibited. Restaurants close at 6pm, and most work from home.
In the trend of other countries, Hong Kong will adopt, from February 24, a vaccination pass to frequent restaurants, supermarkets and malls.
