Coronavirus: Hong Kong public hospitals suspend some elective surgical operations as city logs more than 2,700 infections
- Hospital Authority says several non-urgent surgical procedures, such as endoscopy services and elective cardiac interventions, have been suspended
- Health officials on Tuesday reported 2,769 coronavirus infections, including 211 imported cases, and one virus-related death
Hong Kong’s public hospitals have suspended some non-urgent surgical procedures to allow for the redeployment of staff and resources to combat the increase in daily coronavirus cases.
Health officials revealed the decision on Tuesday as the city reported 2,769 Covid-19 infections, 211 of which were imported, and one virus-related death.
The city’s overall coronavirus tally currently stands at 1,276,432 cases, with 9,420 related fatalities.
“The number of confirmed cases and the hospitalised patients have shown a continuous upward trend, which doubled about every 10 to 14 days,” said Dr Albert Au Ka-wing of the Centre for Health Protection.
“If the trend continues, it will probably reach 5,000 or 6,000 in two weeks.”
Dr Sara Ho Yuen-ha, the Hospital Authority’s chief manager of patient safety and risk management, said some public healthcare facilities would suspend several non-urgent surgical procedures, such as endoscopy services, elective cardiac intervention and select treatments for benign tumours, to cope with the rising number of coronavirus patients.