Hospital Alert Was Urgent: Sophia Chan

Health Secretary Sophia Chan on Thursday defended the government's move to send an urgent alert to people's mobile phones the night before, saying it was a matter of emergency to inform everybody that Queen Elizabeth Hospital had been turned into a designated Covid hospital.

The conversion had been announced by Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Wednesday morning.

Some people - such as lawmaker Kenneth Fok - complained that the alert was unnecessary and set off an alarm that was too loud, scaring some elderly people and children.

It was the first time the government made use of the alert system since its launch in 2020, when officials said it may be used in emergency situations to warn the public to take contingency measures.

Examples they cited included extreme weather events, major public safety incidents and large-scale public health emergency situations.

On a radio programme, Chan said there was a good reason to send out the alert because people needed to refrain from going to Queen Elizabeth Hospital as far as possible.

"The hospital really stopped admitting [any non-Covid, non-urgent patients]. If people keep going, the original plan of [transferring patients out] in three to four days can't be achieved," she said.

"This was a matter related to health, so there was urgency."

Chan called on people not to turn the emergency alert off, saying the government will keep on sending people urgent messages.

The minister added that officials have heard people's views and will consider whether the alert's volume can be adjusted.