Hong Kong confirms 3,709 new Covid- 19 cases as senior officials vow to step up use of traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients

City leader Carrie Lam says health authorities slow to adopt traditional Chinese medicine due to predominance of Western treatments among public medical sector

Authorities continue distribution of anti-epidemic packages, Lam says more will be available for those in need from April 6

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Volunteers distribute anti-epidemic packages to households across the city. Photo: Jelly Tse

Nadia LamandLo Hoi-ying

Published: 4:17pm, 3 Apr 2022Updated: 12:25am, 6 Apr 2022

Corrected [6:21pm, 4 Apr, 2022]

[6:21pm, 4 Apr, 2022]
This story has been updated to correct the overall tally of Covid-19 related deaths.

Authorities will step up the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) across Hong Kong, senior officials have revealed, as health authorities confirmed just over 3,700 new Covid-19 infections.

The remarks on Sunday came a day after Tong Xiaolin, the leader of a delegation of seven TCM specialists who recently visited Hong Kong, said the city should push ahead with the wider use of such medicines.

Proprietary TCM is already included in anti-epidemic kits as part of a citywide distribution effort by authorities, in addition to masks and rapid antigen test (RAT) kits.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said health authorities were taking a long time to increase the usage of TCM because such treatments had not previously been prescribed under the current public health system due to the predominance of Western medicine.

“This anti-epidemic fight has actually given us this opportunity to speed up the [adoption of TCM], to get more Hong Kong people more familiar with Chinese medicines, including its benefits and usage,” she said.

“There were a lot of obstacles to the application and development of Chinese medicine in the city. These obstacles in the law and system need to be solved,” she added.