Non-urgent patients wait up to 8 hours at Hong Kong’s public hospitals amid flu surge – and things unlikely to get better before Lunar New Year

Overall occupancy rate at public hospitals reaches 109 per cent, meaning temporary beds have to be used in corridors

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Health authorities announced that Hong Kong had entered the winter peak season for influenza. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 5:30pm, 6 Jan 2019Updated: 8:14pm, 7 Jan 2019

Overcrowded public hospital wards are bracing for an even heavier winter flu load ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday next month, with non-urgent patients having to wait up to eight hours to see a doctor.

The health authority last week announced the city had entered the winter peak season for influenza and warned virus activity could further increase in coming weeks. So far the surge has claimed eight lives.

The Department of Health said the peak flu season normally lasted for at least a month, meaning the problem of packed wards could worsen ahead of the holiday, during which many doctors usually took a break.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital has one of the highest occupancy rates. Photo: Nora Tam

As of Friday, seven adults had died of flu. Another 18 adults had severe cases of flu, while a six-year-old girl was critically ill with severe paediatric influenza.

The overall occupancy rate at public hospitals was 109 per cent on Saturday, which meant temporary beds had to be laid along corridors or in between fixed ones. Tseung Kwan O Hospital had the highest occupancy, at 128 per cent, followed by Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei with 121 per cent.