Hong Kong coronavirus: children restrained to ward beds for safety and parents told beforehand, officials say over row on isolation of babies
- Health officials defend the practice after concerns raised over how infants and other children with Covid-19 are treated in hospital
- If space permits, parents who do not carry the virus will be given the option of staying with the children, it says
Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority has stressed that children being treated in paediatric wards are only placed in restraints after parents are notified and under no circumstances would the adults be unaware of such an arrangement.
But a hospital would only consider the application of physical restraints on paediatric patients for their safety and well-being, the authority said.
Appropriate and prior consent would be sought from the parents or guardians, it said.
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The authority also reiterated a previous government statement that said parents who were not carrying the virus would be given the option of staying with their infected children in hospital, subject to the agreement of the Department of Health and the availability of isolation facilities.
The government’s policy for treating very young Covid-19 patients and its rules for families in quarantine have exploded into the spotlight this past week after the coronavirus rampaged through the expatriate community, forcing families into isolation camps and hospital.