Zero-Covid pursuit in Hong Kong puts medical services in jeopardy

Hong Kong’s tenacious pursuit of zero COVID infections has virtually exhausted hospital and quarantine capacity in the global financial centre, raising the likelihood of adjustments to admissions and isolation regulations in the near future.

In contrast to many other locations that try to “live with COVID,” Chinese-ruled Hong Kong is likewise dealing with a doctor and nurse shortage as it follows mainland authorities’ goal of containing outbreaks as quickly as feasible.

Despite the fact that only a few COVID-19 patients are in grave condition, some hospitals are already overcrowded, with the majority of patients suffering from nothing more than a sore throat. Asymptomatic patients and close contacts use quarantine beds.

Medical experts are also concerned about a projected surge in infections, which could lead to a significant increase in serious diseases, particularly among the elderly, who are generally unvaccinated.

“Pragmatic adjustments to discharge criteria are essential to guarantee that entirely asymptomatic persons do not take up scarce bed space,” said Siddharth Sridhar, a professor in the University of Hong Kong’s microbiology department.

Authorities had been able to keep the virus under control for the past two years thanks to thorough testing, even on pets like hamsters, as well as forced hospital admissions and isolation for thousands of affected individuals and close contacts.

This year saw the spike in cases of infection of the more transmissible Omicron strain. Daily instances are at an all-time high, having climbed 10-fold in February, when many people celebrated the Lunar New Year.

Several public hospitals are now overcrowded, and infected patients must wait days to get admitted. And the worst is yet to come: some specialists anticipate that by the end of March, there will be roughly 30,000 cases every day, up from little over 1,000 presently.

Hospital beds for COVID-19 patients are 90 percent full, according to data from the city’s Hospital Authority, and isolation facilities are also nearly full.

“Accident and emergency departments must deal with a large number of patients,” said a Hospital Authority spokesman, who added that existing occupancy rates have “nearly saturated” facilities.