Coronavirus: burned-out, overwhelmed and confused, Hong Kong nurses share their plight as Covid-19 rips through city

Nurses say they are understaffed and worry about the infection risk after some of their colleagues tested positive

Despite the workload, some medical workers have voluntarily taken up duties at isolation wards to take care of patients

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Covid-19 patients wait at a temporary outdoor isolation area at Caritas Medical Centre in Sham Shui Po. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

Published: 9:30am, 22 Feb 2022

Jennifer Lau*, a nurse at a general ward at a Hong Kong public hospital, locked herself in a washroom when her Covid-19 test result came back positive.

She had just finished an eight-hour shift. All she could do was isolate herself from patients immediately and let her family and friends know the result.

It was a busy day for Lau, who was taking care of 16 patients alone – double the amount than usual – since her colleague was on sick leave after also coming down with the coronavirus. Though she had managed to squeeze in time for dinner, she did not have any chance for a toilet break throughout her shift.

Lau tested positive after an outbreak at her hospital ward. She suspected she caught the virus after having a meal with the infected colleague.

“I was very worried that I would infect my family and friends,” she said in a shaky voice from where she was eventually sent – Penny’s Bay quarantine centre. “At that moment, I broke down.”

Lau is among several hundred infected health care workers in Hong Kong. Medical workers have said they feel worn out as an Omicron outbreak rips through the city.