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Coronavirus: Hong Kong, mainland officials expected to discuss quick building of new makeshift hospital, other measures to help contain surge in Covid-19 cases

  • Ahead of meeting in neighbouring Shenzhen on Saturday, Beijing has already set in motion arrangements to help the city cope, mainland source says
  • ‘Hundreds’ of Cantonese-speaking laboratory staff from across the border are in Hong Kong now to boost testing capacity, Guangdong health official reveals

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Local residents and workers subject to a mandatory testing order queue up for Covid-19 screening in Yuen Long on Thursday. Photo: Jelly Tse
Hong Kong and mainland officials this weekend are expected to discuss the quick construction of a Chinese-style makeshift hospital, among other measures, to help the city contain an exponential surge in daily coronavirus infections that are stretching health care resources to the limit.
Authorities confirmed 1,325 new Covid-19 infections on Friday – another daily record – while preliminary-positive cases soared past 1,500, in a worrying reminder of Hong Kong’s uphill battle against an Omicron-fuelled wave that has forced the city to take unprecedented measures and contemplate even more.

Ahead of the meeting in neighbouring Shenzhen on Saturday, Beijing has already set in motion arrangements to help the city cope, with “hundreds” of Cantonese-speaking laboratory staff from across the border now in Hong Kong to boost its testing capacity, according to a mainland official.

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Long queues for Covid-19 testing in Hong Kong’s Discovery Bay neighbourhood

Long queues for Covid-19 testing in Hong Kong’s Discovery Bay neighbourhood

Setting up a makeshift hospital of the type that first popped up in the mainland city of Wuhan at the start of the pandemic more than two years ago was on the cards, a Beijing-based mainland official overseeing Hong Kong affairs told the Post. Its location and staffing issues would be discussed along with other matters such as further ramping up testing.

The makeshift facility, modelled after Wuhan’s “fangcang”, or “square cabin”, would be the second of its kind in Hong Kong, after a similar structure was set up at AsiaWorld-Expo in Tung Chung, also with the help of the mainland.

“Based on Hong Kong’s request, we need to work out with Guangdong province the additional human resources and suitable mobile testing lab equipment to be sent to Hong Kong, without compromising Guangdong’s Covid-19 containment needs,” the source said.

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