Rising flu cases pile pressure on Hong Kong emergency wards already flooded with Covid patients
- Emergency wards already under pressure from increased Covid-19 infections and stress expected to increase with flu and staff holidays
- Hospital Authority appeals for people with less severe illnesses to visit outpatient public clinics or family doctors
Emergency wards in Hong Kong public hospitals have been swamped with patients in the wake of a jump in Covid-19 infections, and some doctors are warning that the pressure on the healthcare system will increase with a seasonal flu surge while more medical personnel go on a holiday break.
One doctor told the Post on Monday the overcrowding problem was also worsened as some care homes for the elderly had sent residents with mild Covid-19 symptoms to public hospitals.
The Hospital Authority appealed to people with less severe illnesses to go to outpatient public clinics or private practitioners after residents were forced to wait for up to eight hours at some accident and emergency departments.
The queues mostly decreased later in the day, but at 9pm waiting times at Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai and United Christian Hospital in Kwun Tong were still more than eight hours.
Dr Aaron Lee Fook-kay, an emergency ward doctor at a public hospital, said the influx of patients had started with the latest increase in the number of Covid-19 infections.