Wuhan pneumonia: Hong Kong widens net for suspected cases but medical workers fear already overstretched hospitals will suffer
- Under new criteria, people will be reported if they have symptoms and either visited a mainland hospital or had close contact with virus-afflicted patient
- Public hospitals are already full as the city entered the peak flu season last week
The strain on Hong Kong’s public hospitals, already overstretched by the peak flu season, could worsen after health authorities widened the net for suspected cases linked to the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak, medical workers fear.
A representative of a health care workers’ union said increasing the turnover rate for hospital beds could be among the solutions to tackle the problem, while a medical expert urged local authorities to step up surveillance by introducing health declaration forms for passengers arriving on flights from Wuhan, which announced its second death of the outbreak on Thursday night.
At least 41 people have been struck down in Wuhan, in central China’s Hubei province, with pneumonia caused by a new coronavirus, in an outbreak linked to a seafood market in the city.
Japan on Thursday confirmed its first case of the disease and Thailand its second one on Friday.
Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection announced on Thursday that criteria to report a suspected case of the coronavirus would be expanded.