'Equipment Sharing Could Have Led To Pok Oi Case'

The chief executive of Pok Oi Hospital said on Monday that an elderly patient who contracted Covid-19 during his stay there could have caught the bug through contaminated medical equipment.

Dr Chong Yee-hung told an RTHK radio programme that the 93-year-old man possibly got the infection at the hospital because medical equipment such as blood pressure monitors are used on multiple patients.

Chong also told the programme that as the ward utilisation rate is high, often reaching full capacity, medical staff will continue to be reminded to be extra alert.

They will be asked to make sure standard protective procedures like washing hands and disinfecting equipment are carried out strictly.

The doctor said so far no one else who had been in the hospital has tested positive for the virus, including 72 patients who shared the same wards as the elderly man, 11 patients who were recently discharged from the ward, and the man's family members.

Chong also confirmed that so far 171 frontline medical workers have also tested negative, and that officials are waiting for the results of three others.

His comments come after the president of the Hong Kong Public Doctors' Association, Arisina Ma, said the Pok Oi case showed there may be loopholes in the operation of the hospital.

She said Pok Oi needed to improve its infection control measures, including having patients wear face masks.

Ma said as the air conditioning and ventilation systems of the city's hospitals have been improved, it was unlikely there would be a repeat of the super-spreading event at ward 8A of the Prince of Wales Hospital during the Sars epidemic.

The 2003 incident saw 11 medical professionals infected from the ward, with more than 200 people eventually falling in that outbreak.