The SUN
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| Kids' beds in public hospitals are nearly full, government doctors say |
Health authorities
have repeated calls for parents to get their children vaccinated against
Covid-19 as the city added 9,901 new infections on Friday, which included 187
imported cases
The call was made as a
15-month-old baby girl whose condition was previously reported as critical, had
reportedly made progress, so that she is now listed in serious condition.
Dr Lau Ka-hin of the
Hospital Authority said pediatric beds for young Covid-19 patients are now 70%
occupied, which already translates to full capacity, so services at public
hospitals would be further strained if more children are admitted.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Lau added that because
of Hong Kong’s low birth rate there are not many kids’ beds in hospitals so if
more are admitted they will be put in adult wards.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of
the Centre for Health Protection joined the call for getting more children to
get jabbed, and dismissed reports quoting a government expert as saying that
the BioNTech vaccine for kids won’t be available locally as they are too pricey.
Without this specially
formulated vaccine, only Sinovac is the only one available for kids.
Chuang said the government
is still in talks with the manufacturer on getting the vaccine, and that the
negations have been going on smoothly.
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| Pindutin para sa detalye |
"I understand
it's in progress, although we do not have an exact date of delivery,"
Chuang said.
She added that because
of serious illnesses and even deaths among children lately, parents should not
delay and just get whatever vaccine is available for their children.
Asked how young
children aged three and above can comply with the new rule putting them under
the vaccine pass, Chuang said that if the kids don’t have smartphones they
could just bring a paper copy of their vaccination record to enter certain
venues.
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Lau reported eight new
related deaths, involving patients aged 57 to 92 years old – three of them had
the recommended three vaccine doses, while one did not get vaccinated at all.
They took the death toll in the fifth wave to 9,496.
Two of the fatalities
were dead on arrival at the hospital, and are believed to have died from causes
other than the coronavirus.
One was an 80-year-old
man who had no vaccination and declined to be taken to hospital when he tested
positive on a rapid antigen test on Aug 22, or see a doctor. He had a history
of hypertension and diabetes.
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| Press for details |
The other was a
57-year-old woman with lung cancer who also tested positive on a PCR test on
Aug 22, but did not go to a hospital. She had two jabs.
Her family took her to
a hospital when they noticed her slurred speech. She fainted and was briefly
resuscitated, but was declared dead shortly after.
Lau reported 2,667
patients are now receiving treatment in public hospitals. Among them, 48 are in
critical condition, including 13 in intensive care; and 54 have severe
symptoms.
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| BASAHIN ANG DETALYE |
Of the 187 imported cases, 70 were detected at the airport, 57 in quarantine hotels, 51 between days 4 and 7 after arrival, and the remaining 9 after day 7.
Six countries each
logged more than 10 infected cases: United Kingdom, 25; India, 24; Singapore
and the Philippines, 18 each; United States, 15; and India, 12.
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| PADALA NA! |
