Chinese medical staff rally for Hong Kong Covid-19 campaign

More than 100 medical workers from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday to help the city tackle a surge in coronavirus cases. Guangdong authorities said the 114-strong team would help with research, treatment, and testing. All of the staff had were experienced in Guangdong’s anti-coronavirus campaigns and most were proficient in Cantonese and English. An advance party of four mainland epidemiologists arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday and inspected the testing labs and held discussions with local health officials. Guangdong plans to send more than 1,000 doctors and nurses to Hong Kong as part of the campaign, according to a provincial health official. The official, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said the main task would be to help with collecting samples. “The deployment is expected to be for 7-14 days. They will need to be quarantined for 14 days and have seven days of health monitoring on their way back. All in all, they will be away from home for more than a month,” the official said. Cases in city have risen in a month from a little over 100 a day to more than 6,000, and President Xi Jinping has ordered mainland Chinese officials to “fully support” the city’s efforts to contain the surge. The Guangdong official said all hospitals in the province had been told that they had to send teams of about 60-100 members, and the effort would be headed by the deputy director of Guangdong’s health commission. The official also said there was no shortage of volunteers. “Despite all the risk of contacting Covid-19, long work hours, and extended time away from home, many doctors and nurses, especially the Communist Party members, have volunteered. Almost all hospitals had more volunteers than we asked for,” the official said. Why Xi’s message on Covid-19 in Hong Kong wasn’t relayed to mainland Wang Xinhua, former president of Guangzhou Medical University, said staff at the university were keen to sign up and help was needed to turn the outbreak around. “There is still a certain distance from the inflection point,” Wang said. “Testing and quarantine will require support from the mainland, especially Guangdong, to ensure medical treatment.” Lily Yu, a doctor from a hospital affiliated with Sun Yat-sen University, said more than 20 staff were selected from 200 candidates, mainly nurses, to support testing in Hong Kong. “There was a rigorous interview within the hospital that required applicants to have passed the CET 6 [English-language test] and also to know Cantonese,” she said. “I wanted to sign up to support Wuhan during the early outbreak two years ago, but I found out I was pregnant at that time, so couldn’t go. If I were called up this time, I would certainly still go, out of professional instinct.” Alex Ji, a doctor from a hospital affiliated with Southern Medical University, said she and her colleagues had been encouraged to sign up, but going to Hong Kong would involve a personal cost. “Being selected to go would mean the hospital thought highly of you and recognised your ability because those sent to Hong Kong must be the best. But they also have parents and children to take care of at home,” she said. “It will mean working in Hong Kong for a fortnight, and more than a month in quarantine before and after. “And it seems that this outbreak in Hong Kong cannot be tackled in two weeks, so it could take more than two months all up – a gap that requires the full support of the families. “As the mother of a two-year-old, I do have some hesitation. If the hospital assigns me, I will go and take on the challenge. It is my responsibility as a doctor.” Ji also said there were differences in epidemic control policy in Hong Kong. “The policy on the mainland is strict, the medical staff probably won’t get infected. But the chances of getting infected in Hong Kong are very high,” she said. Mainland doctors would also not be authorised to give medical advice, which could be a problem, Ji said. Brokers, banks shut outlets as Hong Kong hunkers down for Covid-19 Zhao Wei, a public health professor at Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, said low vaccination rates among Hong Kong’s elderly and the population density would be challenges. Only about 40 per cent of Hong Kong residents aged 80 or older have had their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, making them particularly vulnerable. But Guangdong had the capacity to help, Zhao said. “Medical shortages cause panic and have a great impact on the community. Resource support from Guangdong is necessary,” he said, adding that Hong Kong could also learn from Singapore. “Hong Kong can learn from Singapore’s experience of hospitalising the severely ill and quarantining the less severely ill at home to reduce the demand for medical resources.”

Chinese medical staff rally for Hong Kong Covid-19 campaign

Hospitals in Guangdong province select doctors and nurses to help city tackle surge in cases Greater risk of contracting the coronavirus but no shortage of volunteers, medics say

Hospitals in Guangdong province select doctors and nurses to help city tackle surge in cases

Greater risk of contracting the coronavirus but no shortage of volunteers, medics say