Hong Kong’s ‘dirty teams’: medical workers at the front line of the war against the coronavirus share their stories and fears
- These doctors and nurses soldier on, despite sleeping in dormitories and not seeing their loved ones for a prolonged period, or getting ostracised by colleagues
- Anxiety over becoming infected and frustration with insufficient protective gear are always at the back of their minds
David (not his real name) is a doctor who works in a Kowloon hospital in Hong Kong, but his colleagues avoid him, and he only goes home once every two weeks to see his wife, spending other nights alone in a hotel room or at his office, which has a foldable mattress, clean clothing and food.
He belongs on a “dirty team” – medical workers at the front line of the war against the coronavirus. While such units have no official title, the term is widely used among peers in the sector.
The name captures the grit and grind of a group of health care staff who are the first to receive highly suspected cases and who deal most with infections, but it is also a label that unintentionally represents their isolation and loneliness.
As Hong Kong’s alarming surge in Covid-19 cases over the past two weeks shows no signs of waning, with the city recording more than 580 cases by Sunday, three dirty team members share their stories and fears with the Post, on condition of anonymity.
“Some colleagues will avoid us ... even though from the Hospital Authority’s perspective, we are very clean as we are in full protective gear,” David, who has been attending to patients since mid-February, said.
