By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Dr Ho says a crisis looms with hospitals unable to give space for all infected patients |
Speaking at today's press briefing, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said the government laboratory had been so overwhelmed yesterday that they were not able to confirm cases that had been referred to them as preliminary positive.
“About 2,000 cases have been confirmed but we have around 4,500 cases who are preliminary positive so we communicated with our laboratory and we understand that there were about 1,500 to 2,000 other cases that were not tested yesterday because of a backlog,” said Chuang.
“We expect those cases to be confirmed today.”
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Dr Sara Ho, chief manager of the Hospital Authority, called the current situation a crisis, with more than 90% of all hospital beds occupied and more than 1,000 other infected patients waiting to be hospitalized.
She called for the public’s understanding, saying health workers have been overstretched, given that thousands of cases have been detected daily in the past few days.
“We are dealing with a crisis now, so let’s join hands and help support our staff,” she said.
She added that the HA has been faced with manpower shortage because a number of hospital personnel have been testing positive.
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As of today, she said 40 more staff in various hospitals have tested preliminary positive, but the infection came mostly from the community. About 50 patients have been identified as close contacts.
In the past few days, the HK reported that no less than 50 of its staff had tested positive for Covid-19.
Despite such setbacks, Dr Ho said staff have been exerting effort to make sure the public health system does not collapse.
She also reported two new deaths of patients in hospitals after being diagnosed with coronavirus.
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One of them is a 77-year-old man who was hospitalized on Feb
12 at
Another was an 82-year-old man who was taken to
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| Chuang says two infected elderly men died before being diagnosed |
Separately, Dr Chuang reported on two elderly men with Covid-19 who died before they could be diagnosed.
They were a 73-year-old living in Lam Tin and a 77-year-old who lived in Yau Ma Tei. They were tested positive in mortuaries.
Chuang also mentioned more infections being reported from elderly care homes involving staff and residents, including one in Sham Shui Po, another in Tuen Mun, and another in Prince Edward.
Ten patients were also reported as critically ill, including a three-year-old girl who is intensive care at Children’s Hospital.
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She reiterated that the new health protocol gives priority to the elderly, children and those in serious condition when admitting patients to hospitals.
She also said those who test positive and are in relatively good medical condition should isolate at home while waiting to be admitted to a hospital. They will be given a hotline that they could call if they need medical advice or any help while in home quarantine.
If any of the confirmed patients isolating at home develop shortness of breath, fever, increased heartbeat, or become half-conscious, their relatives or anyone looking after them should call for help immediately.
The doctors again emphasized that the current protocol is for all infected patients to be put in a hospital or isolation facility.
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Only those who are close contacts are allowed to isolate at home for either 14 days or 4 days depending on the level of proximity to an infected patient. While under home quarantine they must wear a tracking bracelet and should monitor their condition daily.
