Hong Kong third wave: plans for at least two temporary coronavirus hospitals and expanded makeshift facilities will boost capacity by 2,400 beds

Mainland Chinese experts deployed to the city will also aid in coronavirus testing capacity

Temporary hospitals will be used to treat patients in more serious condition, with one to be built near AsiaWorld-Expo, source says

Reading Time:4 minutes

Health workers are already in action at the AsiaWorld-Expo makeshift facility. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 10:22pm, 3 Aug 2020Updated: 10:42pm, 4 Aug 2020

Hong Kong will build at least two temporary hospitals for Covid-19 patients and expand existing makeshift facilities with the help of mainland Chinese experts deployed to the city, adding as many as 2,400 beds to capacity, the Post has learned.

The plans, which include an up to tenfold rise in daily coronavirus testing, were revealed on Monday as Hong Kong broke a 12-day streak of triple-digit increases in new Covid-19 cases, confirming another 80 infections. The city’s tally stood at 3,589 cases, with 38 related deaths.

However, health officials and experts urged residents not to lower their guard, saying it was still too early to conclude from one day’s numbers that the trend was falling.

“Of course, I hope it’s really decreasing but we still have to observe for a few days,” said Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection.

With the global [pandemic] explosion continuing, Hong Kong needs to be prepared for a fourth wave and a winter surge

Government source

The government announced on Monday that a series of social distancing measures that were set to expire on Tuesday would continue for another week. The measures include social gatherings capped at two people, the closure of more than a dozen types of establishments, mandatory mask-wearing in public areas and a ban on restaurant dine-in services at night.

To combat the city’s third and deadliest wave of the coronavirus, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had sought help from the mainland to carry out wider screening and build makeshift hospitals.