Cases Of COVID-19 Infection In Hong Kong Soar 60-fold: Patients Are Treated Outside Hospital Buildings, Government Apologizes

Mass COVID-19 testing in Hong Kong. (Wikimedia Commons/Peachyeung316)

JAKARTA - Hong Kong recorded another record case of COVID-19 infection, with a 60-fold jump, causing patients to be hospitalized, prompting authorities to apologize and will require COVID-19 testing from March.

The storm of COVID-19 infections overwhelmed hospitals with some patients, including the elderly, forced to lie in bed outside the hospital building in the cold, sometimes rainy weather, prompting an apology from Hong Kong authorities.

Schools, gyms, cinemas and most public places were closed. Many office workers work from home. But many residents are tired of the harsh restrictions imposed to protect them from the pandemic, even as most of the world's other major cities adjust to the virus.

Health authorities reported a record 6,116 confirmed cases on Thursday, up from 4,285 the previous day, with 6,300 initial positive cases. That brings the total since January to more than 16,600. Meanwhile, the number of new deaths reported reached 24 people.

The spike in cases is the biggest test of the city's "zero dynamic COVID" policy, but leader Carrie Lam said this week Hong Kong "cannot give in to the virus."

Several media reports, citing unnamed sources, said the government plans to test up to 1 million people daily from March. Those who do not comply with this provision will be fined HK$10,000.

Illustration of COVID-19 in Hong Kong. (Wikimedia Commons/美国之音汤惠芸)

The Hong Kong Government Authority did not respond to a request for comment on this matter.

"Due to the severe number of cases, we need to speed up entry to hospitals and community isolation facilities," Deputy Food and Health Minister Chui Tak-yi told reporters, citing Reuters on February 17.

"The government is trying to ease all these traffic jams," he said.

Quarantine facilities have reached capacity and hospital beds are more than 90 percent full, authorities said. In a bid to free up beds for isolation, Carrie Lam said late Wednesday she has spoken to local hotel owners and plans to make up to 10,000 hotel rooms available to COVID-19 patients.

Lam's comments came after Chinese President Xi Jinping told Hong Kong leaders their "main mission" is to stabilize and control the coronavirus. Lam later welcomed several Chinese health experts who had arrived from the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, and said the city was planning to increase its testing capabilities.

"Citywide testing for the virus is a plan we are considering right now," Lam told reporters.

Hong Kong has adopted the same 'zero dynamic' coronavirus strategy used by mainland China to suppress all outbreaks.

But the scale and speed of the highly contagious variant of the Omicron virus has left authorities scrambling. The hospital is operating at maximum capacity or exceeding capacity. Meanwhile, long queues have formed outside the testing center, with some people waiting for hours.

Authorities say they can no longer maintain their testing and isolation mandates, resulting in backlogs that cannot keep up with the daily number of infections.

Meanwhile, China said it would help Hong Kong increase its testing, treatment and quarantine capacity, and secure resources from rapid antigen kits and protective gear to fresh vegetables.

To note, Hong Kong has recorded around 35,000 infections since the start of the pandemic, and more than 250 deaths, far fewer than any other major city equivalent.

However, medical experts have warned that daily cases could jump to 28,000 by the end of March, amid concerns about a high level of vaccine indecision among parents.