At mass Covid-19 testing site in Hong Kong, concerns raised over inadequate protective gear and residents with sore throat or cough taking part

Doctor working at expo collection site raises alarm over the clothing, which does not keep fluids from passing through, and participants displaying symptoms

Head of Public Doctors’ Association says the gowns are rated level 1 when they should be level 3, but senior member of Medical Association says worries are overblown

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Gowns being used at the Covid-19 collection point at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre have a label reading not for medical use. Photo: Handout

Published: 8:11pm, 4 Sep 2020Updated: 11:32pm, 4 Sep 2020

Doctors have expressed concern over staff working in at least one collection centre for Hong Kong’s mass Covid-19 testing effort receiving “non-medical use” gowns and residents being admitted who are coughing or report a sore throat, both symptoms of the disease.

A frontline doctor who had taken part in the programme told the Post on Friday that health workers had been given gowns with a label saying “non-medical use” and complained they offered little protection.

“It really puts the staff who collect the samples in a dangerous position,” said the doctor, who asked to remain anonymous. “The materials state they were manufactured in mainland China, and they are probably for industrial use. It’s really outrageous, since the government asked us to help out with the initiative, but didn’t even give us enough protection, not just against Covid-19, but [gowns] apparently not for medical use.”

A government spokesman said the gowns in question were not for surgical use and it had sought the advice of the Department of Health and was assured the materials met a liquid barrier standard.

The certificate that comes with the protective clothing states they are ‘one-off protective gowns’ made in mainland China. Photo: Handout

In photos seen by the Post taken at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, one of the 141 venues converted into a sample collection point, the protective clothing came with a label reading “non-medical use”. A certificate written in simplified Chinese states the item was known as a “one-off protective gown” made on April 30 at a garment factory in Dongguan, in Guangdong province.

Dr Arisina Ma Chung-yee, the president of the Hong Kong Public Doctors’ Association, reviewed the photos and said the fabric resembled level 1 gowns used in the city’s public hospitals, which were not waterproof.