Omicron: Hong Kong leader says city ‘overwhelmed’ by fifth wave, health facilities overloaded by Covid-19 infections
- Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said the surge of Covid-19 cases threatens to bring down the city’s zero-Covid policy
- For those who test positive, isolation facility wait times have increased, while the city’s hospitals on Sunday told people with stable or mild symptoms to stay home
Patients wait for admission outside the Accident and Emergency Room of Caritas Hospital in Sham Shui Po. Photo: Yik Yeung-manHong Kong’s health facilities have been overloaded by an “onslaught” of Covid-19 infections, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has said, as a rise in Omicron cases threatens to bring down the city’s zero-Covid policy.
Since the start of the pandemic, authorities have adhered to mainland China’s policy of stamping out even the smallest outbreaks with mass quarantine, widespread tracking and prolonged social-distancing measures.
But the extremely contagious Omicron variant breached Hong Kong’s defences in late December, piling up more than 8,000 infections in a few weeks with researchers warning that daily cases could exceed 25,000 by next month.
Coronavirus: Hong Kong confirms more than 1,000 cases, first deaths in about six months
While the infection rate remains low compared to major cities around the world, Hong Kong’s policy of sending even asymptomatic cases to hospitals and quarantine facilities has filled up beds and amplified wait times.
“The onslaught of the fifth wave of the epidemic has dealt a heavy blow to Hong Kong and overwhelmed the city’s capacity of handling,” Lam said in a statement issued Sunday night.
The surge in cases has increased wait times “for admitting people who test positive to isolation facilities”, she added.
Surrounded by patients queuing for tests all of last week, the city’s hospitals on Sunday told people who have “stable or have mild symptoms” to stay at home.
But Lam said the government would “spare no effort to implement” the zero-Covid strategy and that China would help the city to bolster testing and quarantine resources.
Hong Kong has struggled to persuade its elderly population to get vaccinated with only around 50 per cent of people over the age of 70 receiving a jab.
The government has repeatedly said its zero-Covid policy was to buy more time for them to get inoculated.
Researchers warned last Thursday that by the end of March, the city could be racking up 28,000 daily infections.
By the end of 2021, Hong Kong had only recorded a touch over 12,000 cases.
Last week marked the city’s first Covid-19 deaths in five months, with seven patients over 70 and one four-year-old boy falling to the virus.