Hong Kong mortuaries fill up as Covid-19 deaths climb

Dozens of bodies are waiting in hospital accident and emergency rooms to be transported to mortuaries. PHOTO: REUTERS

HONG KONG (REUTERS) - Facilities for storing dead bodies at hospitals and public mortuaries in Hong Kong are at maximum capacity due to a record number of Covid-19 fatalities, the Hospital Authority said on Monday (Feb 28), as officials battle to control a surge in cases.

The global financial hub is expected to report a daily record high of 34,466 new coronavirus cases on Monday, Chinese state television CCTV reported.

Separately, the city’s Education Secretary said international schools could maintain their original term dates, after widespread confusion over summer school holidays.

Mr Kevin Yeung said international schools could continue with online classes through March and April, while local schools will take an early break for the summer from March until mid-April.

School campuses are expected to be used by the government in March as authorities roll out compulsory testing of the city’s 7.4 million population.

The government has not ruled out a city-wide lockdown during the mass testing period, local broadcaster RTHK reported, citing Health Secretary Sophia Chan. Leader Carrie Lam has previously said she was not considering a city-wide lockdown for the moment.

Empty grocery shelves were seen across several supermarkets in the Chinese-ruled financial hub as residents scooped up essentials in case of a potential lockdown.

The Hospital Authority said the number of patients dying from Covid-19 or serious complications triggered by the cold weather sharply increased over the past two weeks, putting immense pressure on the mortuary service in public hospitals.

“The storage space in hospital mortuaries has reached full capacity,” the authority said in an email.

Dozens of bodies are waiting in hospital accident and emergency rooms across the global financial hub to be transported to mortuaries, said Dr Tony Ling, head of the city's Public Doctors Association.

"These bodies now need extra time to wait for collection because resources are just so tight" due to manpower and storage capacity shortages, he said.

The government did not respond to requests for comment.

There have been more than 600 coronavirus-linked deaths in Hong Kong since the start of the pandemic in 2020, less than in other similar major cities.

However, numbers are climbing daily, with a record 83 deaths on Sunday (Feb 27). Around 300 deaths have been recorded in the past week, with the majority unvaccinated residents.

Hong Kong has a large proportion of unvaccinated elderly despite a recent pick-up in vaccinations. Many have hesitated to be inoculated due to a fear of side effects and complacency due to the city's success in controlling the virus in 2021.

Medical experts have said the city of 7.4 million residents could see cumulative deaths from the virus potentially rising to around 3,206 by mid-May.

Around 4,000 people on average die each month in Hong Kong, according to 2020 government figures.

Hong Kong has stuck firmly to a dynamic zero coronavirus policy which seeks to curb all outbreaks, like that in mainland China. To achieve this, the city has unleashed its toughest measures since the start of the pandemic.

Medical workers work at a makeshift Covid-19 treatment area outside a hospital in Hong Kong on Feb 27, 2022. PHOTO: REUTERS

The city has recorded over 171,000 infections in total, with around 160,000 of them since the start of February due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

The government has in recent days communicated to the public at press conferences that the deaths are mostly among unvaccinated people. Previously, that information was not readily given.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said mainland Chinese experts had suggested to her administration that they explain "more clearly the clinical situation of the death cases to the public and boost vaccination among the elderly", according to a government statement released on Sunday night.

Chinese officials have stepped in to bolster Hong Kong's efforts to fight the outbreak after President Xi Jinping told the city's government to make it their "overriding mission" to control a worsening Covid-19 outbreak.

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