100 Covid Patients Still Waiting For Hospital Space

Health officials have confirmed that more than 100 Covid-19 patients are still waiting for a hospital bed as Hong Kong recorded another record day of coronavirus infections.

Dr Sara Ho, a chief manager for the Hospital Authority (HA), said a total of 1,016 people are in hospital for isolation and treatment, of which 39 are in a critical condition, 27 are in a serious condition, and 950 are in a stable condition.

Ho added that the utilisation rate of the city's negative pressure beds for Covid-19 patients have reached 79 percent capacity.

But the chief manager also revealed that as of noon on Monday, there are still more than 100 Covid-19 patients who have not yet been sent to hospital. She said that more than 200 patients have been transferred to second-tier isolation wards, while another 101 have been transferred to Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village – which was recently converted into a community isolation facility.

She said it's not clear when these patients can be admitted, and that the current situation was "really unsatisfactory".

But Ho warned that with the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the SAR, it was hard to free up beds to accommodate more patients.

She called on patients to be patient while waiting either at home or at a quarantine centre to be admitted to hospital. She said the HA was working hard to try to free up as many hospital beds as possible for isolation, and that the authorities were looking for other places that can serve as community isolation facilities.

In the meantime, she suggested those waiting to be admitted should wear face masks, wash hands frequently when at home, and avoid being in the same room as family members.