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A group of mainland volunteers prepare to leave Shenzhen for Hong Kong to help the city fight against the pandemic on February 19. Photo: Xinhua

Letters | Mainland medical staff deserve thanks for supporting Hong Kong’s Covid-19 fight

  • Readers praise the professionalism and selflessness of the mainland volunteers, despair at the lack of logic in Covid-19 restrictions and question the safety of IB exams when the non-exam option is available
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The fifth wave of Covid-19 that began in January is one of the worst epidemic crises in the history of Hong Kong.

The Hospital Authority reactivated the community treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo in January to treat Covid-19 patients, many of whom are elderly. Just as Hong Kong’s healthcare workers were struggling to handle the surge in case numbers, the recent arrival of mainland medical professionals has given Hong Kong’s Covid-19 fight a much appreciated boost.

The Hong Kong Academy of Nursing is grateful to all frontline healthcare professionals who are bravely fighting against the virus. They have been working round-the-clock to take care of a huge number of patients in the hospitals and community treatment facilities. Besides their regular patient care duties, they also have to facilitate the remodification of wards and transfer of patients – all while upholding the highest service quality despite the overwhelming workload and stress.

Many medical professionals succumbed to the virus during this fifth wave, and our public healthcare system was on the brink of collapse. To ease the pressure on the system and the manpower crunch, Hong Kong asked for help from the central government.

The latest batch of mainland medical workers arrived in Hong Kong on March 16, and immediately after coordinating with the Hospital Authority, started work at the AsiaWorld-Expo facility.

The efficiency of the Guangdong provincial government in mobilising over 300 healthcare professionals so quickly to support Hong Kong’s pandemic battle is truly amazing and much appreciated. We thank all members of the mainland medical support team who willingly left their family and jobs at home to come here to provide patient care in a closed-loop arrangement, enduring hardships and the high risk of infection. Their professionalism and selflessness deserve a round of applause.

The academy believes that with the joint efforts of local healthcare professionals and the mainland medical support team, the Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong will ease soon.

We look forward to continued collaborations with nursing professionals in Guangdong to promote advanced nursing practice and leading nursing reform to promote health in Hong Kong and the rest of China.

Professor Chair Sek Ying, president of the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing

Open up beaches before we lose our sanity

We all know by now, following the logic in the government’s policies, that Covid-19 only comes out to infect people at night; hence the need to close all bars, restaurants and clubs at 6pm each day with no group gatherings permitted at home.

This is confirmed by contrasting the behaviour allowed during the day, including travel on crowded buses and trains, and shopping in supermarkets – all places without any social distancing measures in place. In the day, restaurant dining is allowed, albeit only in pairs, but with nothing more than a small plastic screen separating the tables.

Why on earth then are the beaches closed during the day?

All jokes aside, the government should open up the beaches and indeed, all outdoor facilities for non-contact sports such as golf and tennis, to help Hong Kong people keep fit and healthy, thus making it easier for us to fight Covid-19 and retain our sanity.

D. Mervyne, Happy Valley

Why non-exam IB route is best

I refer to your article, “ESF students told exams in Hong Kong to go ahead as planned, despite candidate fears of catching coronavirus” (March 16).

In view of the pandemic, the organisers of the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme have introduced a non-exam route for grading students in regions where the pandemic has made it impossible to safely hold examinations. As an IB student, I believe the non-exam route is more feasible.

Under the non-exam route, a student’s grades will be calculated based on the student’s predicted grades and performance in internal assessments. The internal assessment is based on coursework completed throughout the two-year course that students are required to submit for every subject, and which are reviewed by external markers. This makes internal assessment a good demonstration of the student’s academic ability. In short, the IB diploma programme’s non-exam route is an objective and evidence-based method of calculating the student’s final achievements.

In the current situation, sending hundreds of students to an exam hall creates the risk of a mass outbreak, placing the health of students, teaching staff and their family in jeopardy.

Furthermore, for much of the last two years, teaching has been done through online lessons, the effectiveness of which has been questioned. This raises the concern of how, if exams were to continue for students in Hong Kong, it could place them at a disadvantage vis-à-vis students elsewhere.

Moreover, in the month between now and the start of the exam, some unfortunate students could succumb to the virus. As someone who contracted the coronavirus a while ago, I can vouch that the pain and fatigue would make it difficult to study. So those unfortunate enough to fall ill would be further disadvantaged.

Considering all these reasons, Hong Kong should opt for the non-exam route to protect students’ and teaching staff’s well-being.

Jonathan Chan, Ho Man Tin

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