As COVID deaths rise, Hong Kong morgues are at capacity
Key Takeaways:
- On Monday, health officials in the global financial hub reported a daily high of 34,466 new coronavirus infections and 87 deaths.
- The government plans to administer mandatory testing to the city's 7.4 million residents on school campuses in March.
- To prevent all outbreaks, including those in mainland China, Hong Kong has adhered to a "dynamic zero" coronavirus policy.
On Monday, the Hospital Authority said that storage facilities for dead bodies at hospitals and public mortuaries in Hong Kong are at capacity due to a record number of COVID-19 casualties as officials battle to control a surge in cases.
On Monday, health officials reported a daily high of 34,466 new coronavirus infections, as well as 87 deaths in the global financial hub.
Separately, after widespread confusion over summer school holidays, the city's Education Secretary stated international schools could keep their original term dates.
According to Kevin Yeung, international schools might continue with online classes via March and April, while local schools will take the early summer break from March to mid-April.
In March, the government is expected to use school campuses to administer mandatory testing to the city's 7.4 million residents.
According to local broadcaster RTHK, which cited Health Secretary Sophia Chan, the govt has not ruled out a city-wide lockdown throughout the mass testing period. Carrie Lam, the city's leader, has previously stated that she is not considering a city-wide lockdown at this time.
Several supermarkets in the Chinese-controlled financial hub had empty grocery shelves as residents stocked up on essentials in case of a lockdown.
According to the Hospital Authority, the number of patients dying from COVID-19 or serious problems triggered by the cold weather has sharply increased in the last two weeks, putting enormous strain on the mortuary service in public hospitals.
In an email, the authority told Reuters that "storage space in hospital mortuaries has reached full capacity."
According to Tony Ling, president of the city's Public Doctors Association, hundreds of bodies are awaiting transport to morgues in hospital emergency rooms.
"These bodies now require additional time to be collected because resources are so limited," he said, citing manpower and storage capacity shortages.
Requests for comment from the government were not returned.
Since the outbreak began in 2020, Hong Kong has seen more than 600 coronavirus-related deaths, far fewer than other major cities.
However, the death count continues to rise, with around 400 people dying in the last week, most of whom were unvaccinated residents.
Despite a recent increase in vaccinations, Hong Kong has many unvaccinated elderly. Many people have been hesitant to get inoculated because of concerns about side effects and a sense of complacency following the city's success in controlling the virus in 2021.
Authorities estimate that 600 elderly care and disability centers have been infected in the last month.
According to medical experts, the city's population of 7.4 million people could see a total of 3,200 deaths from the virus by mid-May.
According to government figures from 2020, around 4,000 people die in Hong Kong each month on average.
Hong Kong has steadfastly adhered to a "dynamic zero" coronavirus policy to prevent all outbreaks, including those in mainland China. To do so, the former British colony has enacted some of the most draconian measures since the outbreak began, adding to rules that were already among the toughest in the world.
Over 190,000 infections have been recorded in the city, with around 180,000 of them occurring since the beginning of February due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
In recent days, the government has told the public at press conferences that the deaths are mostly due to not being vaccinated. That information was previously unavailable.