Coronavirus: patients left outside Hong Kong public hospitals finally moving indoors as city’s leader concedes situation ‘unacceptable’
- Patients have been seen outside many public hospitals waiting hours for admission in cold weather after a recent surge in cases led to overcrowding
- But some patients now have to stay in corridors or even bathrooms until a bed is vacated for them, doctor says
Suspected Covid-19 patients forced to wait outside Hong Kong’s public hospitals in the cold for hours for admission were being moved indoors on Friday, with officials pledging to get it done within the day and the city’s leader conceding the situation was “unacceptable”.
While some patients finally got into the warmth inside hospitals, the Post was told some had to stay in corridors or even bathrooms until a bed was vacated for them. Medical workers said they were worn out physically and emotionally, and were still scrambling for space to house more patients.
“This is an order from our seniors. We cannot say there is no more space to free up. We must find space for the patients,” said a doctor at Caritas Medical Centre who gave his name as Peter Chan.
As of 7.30pm, about 10 patients were still outside Caritas.
03:06
Hong Kong eases discharge criteria for Covid-19 patients to relieve strained healthcare system
Four days after the overwhelmed public health care system gained increasing attention in the city and internationally, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor finally acknowledged the problem at a press conference on Friday.
“This is very inappropriate and unacceptable,” she said. “In a post which I issued, I described it as ‘heartbreaking’ and it made me as the chief executive wonder what has actually gone wrong.”
