Hong Kong hospitals hit 90% capacity as COVID cases surge

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s hospitals reached 90% capacity and quarantine facilities were at their limit, authorities said.

Hong Kong reported 15 coronavirus deaths and more than 6,000 confirmed cases for a second day in a surge that is overwhelming hospitals.

The Government announced plans to have construction crews from mainland China build isolation units with 10,000 beds after crowding at hospitals forced patients to wait outdoors in winter cold.

To ease the strain on the city’s healthcare system, officials said they would take a different approach to hospitalization and isolation policies and allow some patients to be discharged sooner. The move comes amid reports of patients being treated on beds outside a hospital in the city’s working-class neighbourhood of Sham Shui Po.

Hong Kong has tightened travel and business controls as it tries to contain the surge.

– INDIAN EXPRESS