Hong Kong Patients Sleep In Temporary Beds & Tents Amid Covid-19 Surge
The recent wave of the Omicron Covid-19 strain has hit many countries hard. In Hong Kong, this surge has overwhelmed hospitals and led to a shortage of medical facilities.
Patients who seek medical attention have had to sleep in makeshift beds and tents set up outside hospitals.
Families squeezed into tents
The Straits Times (ST) reported that Caritas Medical Centre in the Sham Shui Po district in Hong Kong resorted to setting up isolation tents outside its facilities on Monday (14 Feb).
They initially imposed a limit of one Covid-19 patient per tent.
However, by Wednesday (16 Feb), tents were reportedly crowded by entire families. Others had to brave the cold weather on hospital beds outside. To make matters worse, it started to rain.
An emergency room nurse, Mr David Chan, told AFP that his colleagues described their situation as a “battlefield”. He also expressed concerns that the patients’ conditions might worsen.
Covid-19 surge took Hong Kong by surprise
Prior to the surge, Hong Kong seemingly had their local Covid-19 situation under control, with only about 100 new cases daily at the start of Feb, noted Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
However, cases started multiplying suddenly, hitting a record 4,285 new infections on Wednesday (16 Feb) alone.
Government data shows that less than 80% of their population is fully vaccinated, with the elderly population being the most vaccine-hesitant.
On Tuesday (15 Feb), Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam said that this Omicron wave has outgrown their capacity. She thus welcomes support from the central government as they struggle to cope with this surge.
Staying safe during the pandemic
As we enter the third year of this pandemic, many of us might be feeling restless from the everchanging situation.
However, we must keep in mind that the evolving virus is something experts are still struggling to get a grasp of.
We trust that they’re doing their very best, with whatever resources are available.
Since we’re all in this together, let’s show our support for essential and frontline workers, and do our best to help curb the spread of infections too.
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Featured image adapted from The Straits Times on Facebook, courtesy of AFP, Bloomberg, EPA-EFE & Reuters.
