Hospitals Mull Service Resumption As Virus Cases Dip

The Hospital Authority said on Saturday said it was actively looking into resuming some of its non-emergency services, such as diagnostic imaging, next month as Hong Kong’s coronavirus situation improves.

Public hospitals in the city have suspended most of their non-emergency services for months after the Covid-19 outbreak started early this year.

This comes as the Centre for Health Protection reported two new coronavirus cases. Both patients returned from the UK.

There were only single-digit case numbers in Hong Kong recently, with no new Covid-19 infections on two days this week.

A chief manager with the HA, Dr Lau Ka-hin, noted some patients suffering from other diseases had waited for hospital services for a long time. He said the authority hoped to resume some services such as diagnostic imaging which is relatively low-risk.

However, he said officials had different considerations for other services.

He said for example, a lot of patients would visit the hospitals if they reopen the specialist outpatient clinics, increasing infection risks.

He added that they prefer resuming services that would not require staff to put on a lot of personal protective equipment (PPE) amid a tight supply.

“Some of our staff have been deployed to deal with the pandemic. Some wards have been turned into isolation wards. For PPE, though our stock can still last for up to three months, the supply of N95 masks is still tight,” he said.

Meanwhile, the authority said a total of eight patients, who had recovered from Covid-19, have tested positive again following their discharge.

But the officials played down fears of them spreading the infection saying their viral load was low and did not pose great danger to the public

The latest cases take the tally here to 1,037.