Treatment On Hold: Families Fret Over Covid Delays

Maxine and Gabriella are two happy, healthy toddlers who’ve been enjoying the extra time with their loving families as they hunker down at home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Born just one day apart, the babies are both ten months old, and as such are going through crucial stages of development.

But day by day, their parents – Noreen and Andy, and Bone and Dorothy – are growing increasingly anxious.

Maxine – nicknamed ‘Kipper’ by her doting parents – was born deaf in both ears, and can only hear loud noises. She’s a candidate for a cochlear implant – a surgically-attached device for severely or profoundly deaf people that works by directly stimulating the auditory nerve.

But all public non-urgent healthcare services have been suspended for months, and Kipper has only had therapy sessions online, leaving doctors unable to give a proper assessment of whether she needs a cochlear implant.

Gabriella had actually been scheduled for surgery in May to fix her cleft lip and palate, but the procedure has been put off indefinitely due to Covid-19.

For both babies, it’s optimal for their development to have these surgeries done before their first birthday, but there’s no guarantee this can happen with the pandemic raging on.

RTHK’s Maggie Ho spoke with both families to hear about their hopes, and worries.