By The SUN
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| Officials announce a change in strategy, saying the worst is yet to come |
Hong Kong’s daily Covid-19 tally eased slightly from Friday’s record of
nearly 22,000 cases but still remained at critical levels, as health
authorities adjusted discharge criteria at hospitals to make room for more seriously
ill patients waiting to be admitted.
At today’s press conference, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan
said the infection numbers have yet to peak. Since the Omicron-led fifth wave
began on Dec 31 last year, she said the number of cases has surged to more than
81,000, with the tally mounting each day.
Yesterday, a total of 17,063 confirmed cases were tallied, culled from positive
test results submitted by public health laboratories, and for the first time,
also those that came from private laboratories.
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Equally worrying are the number of deaths reported daily, mostly
involving elderly patients or those with chronic disease, but within the past
few days, also included five children, aged 11 months to 9 years old.
Hospital Authority’s Dr Lau Ka-hin reported a total of 88 deaths which
happened yesterday and from two days earlier that were not included in previous
reports.
In the past 24 hours, 66 patients died, comprising 39 males and 27
females aged 19 to 101 years old. Between Feb 22 and 24, an additional 22
deaths were recorded, 15 males and 7 females.
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There are 40 other patients in critical condition, and 97 who are in a
serious condition
Of today’s fatalities, 60% or 39 patients came from elderly care homes,
and only eight of them had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. All those
below 65 years old had serious ailments and needed to be put into care homes.
So far, a total of 607 fatalities have been recorded since the pandemic
broke out more than two years ago, and 402 of them happened in the fifth wave.
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Lau said the number of infected health care workers has risen to 2,322,
putting additional strain on the already overworked hospital staff.
The outbreak in care homes has worsened as well, with 1,943 residents and
more than 600 staff in 470 such facilities across Hong Kong now hit by the
virus.
Chan said the government aims to keep its dynamic zero strategy, and
hopes to put the infection under control in the next two to three months with
help from the Central Government.
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But in the meantime, the government will adopt a risk-based strategy
aimed at early detection and isolation.
Part of the strategy is to continue the lockdowns on high-risk buildings,
where residents will be made to undergo a nucleic acid test. But thereafter, they
will be given rapid antigen test (RAT) kits so they could continue their series
of tests on their own.
Compulsory testing notices currently issued will be cancelled, and
instead, RAT kits will be handed out to affected residents so they can do their
own tests.
The same strategy requiring self-testing will be adopted for residents of
buildings found with contaminated sewage, as well as high-risk workers,
including those working in quarantine hotels and catering places.
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Anyone who tests positive in a RAT will no longer be required to submit a
deep-throat specimen or undergo a PCR test for the case to be confirmed. All
that the patient has to do is to register the RAT result in an online platform
that the government hopes to set up within the coming week.
Those self-isolating should take another RAT on the sixth or seventh day
of isolation and if they test negative and they had at least two doses of a
vaccine, they can get out of their house without a need to inform the Centre
for Health Protection.
The shortened stay could also apply to patients staying in hospitals, in
line with the new policy of freeing up more beds for infected people with more
serious symptoms.
“If they consider the patient is relatively stable and ready for
discharge, they will arrange for discharge based on different criteria – like the
clinical conditions, the symptoms, investigations among many other things,”
said HA director Tony Ko.
As was said in previous briefings, the patient’s living conditions will
also be considered in determining if the patient could be sent home and spend
the rest of the 14-day isolation period there.
The HA also said that eight more clinics that will examine Covid-19
patients with mild symptoms will open from Mar 1, raising the total number of these
facilities to 17.
Of today’s confirmed cases, only six were imported while the remaining 17,000-odd
other infections were locally acquired. But Chan said the reason the government
decided to extend the flight ban on nine countries until Apr 20 is because any
rise in imported cases would cause added burden to the city’s health services.
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| Fire Services chief appeals to patients not needing emergency care to stop calling for ambulance |
Also among those who spoke at the meeting was Fire Services Director Joseph Leung, who repeated an appeal for people with mild to no symptoms to stop calling for an ambulance to take them to a hospital, as this could lead to delays in picking up patients who are seriously ill.
Previously it was reported that up to 30% of calls made for an ambulance
pick-up involved people who had zero to mild symptoms.
Leung also said manpower supply is tight, as 268 fire services officers
have tested positive and 400 have been classified as close contacts.
As of 4pm, he said there were 650 people waiting for ambulances, with the
longest wait on record being more than 26 hours.
Also at the briefing was CHP controller Dr Edwin Tsui and Director of Health Dr Ronald Lam.
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