Sufferers lie in hospital beds ready for medical therapy at a short lived shelter exterior the Caritas Medical Middle in Hong Kong, China, on February 16, 2022.
Leung Man Hei | NurPhoto | Getty Photos
Hong Kong wants to guard its health-care system, which is below super stress proper now attributable to a spike in coronavirus circumstances, a well being skilled informed CNBC on Friday.
Hong Kong is into its fifth wave, pushed by the extra transmissible omicron pressure. Circumstances have surged sharply, from simply over 100 new circumstances per day firstly of February, to a file of 6,166 new circumstances on Thursday.
“Primarily, in Hong Kong proper now, what we have to do is to guard the integrity of the well being system,” mentioned Gabriel Leung, dean of drugs on the College of Hong Kong. “The well being system in Hong Kong at present is below monumental stress.”
Authorities have blamed the surge on the “extreme transmission speed” of the omicron variant, and mentioned that the “tsunami” of stories circumstances has “far exceeded” the town’s capability for therapy, tracing, testing and isolation.
Hospitals are dealing with “immense strain,” the federal government mentioned this week. The occupancy fee at public hospitals was at 92% as of Feb. 18, knowledge from Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority confirmed.
In response to media studies, there have been scenes of sufferers huddled on beds left within the open exterior the hospitals, as amenities turned overwhelmed.
Leung informed CNBC’s “Road Indicators Asia” that the town must decelerate the pace of the present surge.
“The one approach you possibly can sluggish it down now’s actually to go and scale back additional the folks from mixing with one another and from shifting about within the metropolis,” he mentioned.
“So whether or not you name {that a} lockdown, or whether or not you name that enhanced or stepped up public well being and social measures, I do not actually thoughts — the jargon shouldn’t be the vital factor.”
Healthcare staff sporting private protecting tools (PPE) attend to a affected person displaying Covid signs at a short lived triage space subsequent to the emergency division on the Caritas Medical Middle hospital in Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022.
Bertha Wang | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
“What we have to do desperately is to make it possible for we shield the integrity of the hospital system, such that we forestall folks from additional deteriorating in the event that they actually need assist in the hospitals,” he continued.
Hong Kong Chief Government Carrie Lam mentioned Tuesday there have been no plans for a citywide lockdown.
“The quick response of the Hong Kong SAR Authorities … is to reinforce the capacities at numerous elements of this anti-epidemic effort, and we’re doing this,” she mentioned.
“I must say it very clearly that we have now no plans for any widespread metropolis lockdown as you’ve gotten seen in a number of the different locations,” she informed reporters.
