Coronavirus Hong Kong: isolation hotels, makeshift hospitals and citywide testing? Officials racing to answer Xi Jinping’s call on taming fifth wave

Among proposals being considered is plan to test residents three times within a short period to identify hidden carriers, source says, stressing talks still preliminary

Makeshift hospitals could be built at Penny’s Bay quarantine centre, Lok Ma Chau Loop near border and AsiaWorld-Expo facility

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Wards at the makeshift hospital at AsiaWorld-Expo at Chek Lap Kok. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 9:30am, 17 Feb 2022Updated: 10:30am, 17 Feb 2022

Hong Kong officials are pushing forward a host of measures to answer the president’s call to step up the fight against Covid-19 and have won the cooperation of hotel operators to provide rooms for patients, identified potential sites for makeshift hospitals and discussed introducing universal testing, the Post has learned.

Authorities were planning to turn more than 10 hotels into isolation facilities and build as many as three “instant” hospitals, as well as test residents three times within a relatively short period to identify hidden carriers, sources revealed.

One insider said many obstacles needed to be cleared first before launching mass testing, but should the scheme be approved, screening could begin in the middle of next month so long as construction of the largest makeshift hospital went smoothly.

Officials are under immense pressure to quickly roll out more measures to cope with the exponential growth of infections after Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday urged the local government to shoulder the main responsibility for containing the outbreaks as soon as possible. But insiders warned that stumbling blocks needed to be overcome and political concerns addressed before additional steps were announced.

The city confirmed 4,285 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, along with 7,000 suspected infections. At least 12,000 patients are waiting to be admitted to isolation facilities or hospitals for treatment, according to a medical source.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam meets representatives from the hotel industry on Wednesday about supplying rooms for thousands of backlogged Covid-19 patients. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Among the many tasks spelled out by the state leader, a top priority was to move these patients into isolation as soon as possible, according to one pro-establishment politician close to Beijing.