Pandemic Fatigue Leads to More Covid-19 Cases

Dr Chuang and Dr Ho giving this afternoon's media briefing

Pandemic fatigue has definitely not helped in this fourth wave in Hong Kong. Today the city reported 95 new cases, and with Christmas less than two weeks away, the holidays are definitely going to be subdued; the chances of restaurants opening up for dinner on December 24 are close to zero now. 

While senior government officials including Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor are constantly imploring the public to stay at home as much as possible, though in the past few days buses and MTR trains seem less packed. However, people are still eating out for breakfast and lunch or a long lunch/early dinner till 6pm.

However, one should not forget the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic, how it not only affects the elderly and those with preexisting health conditions, but those who are young and healthy.

A patient died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital

During today's daily briefing by the Centre for Health Protection and the Hospital Authority, it was reported a 42-year-old woman died yesterday a week after developing symptoms.

A chief manager of the HA, Dr Sara Ho, said the female patient developed a fever, cough and shortness of breath on December 4. She went to the emergency department at Queen Elizabeth Hospital two days later, and by that time she was already in a very serious condition and had to be put on a ventilator immediately. A week later she passed away.

"We always emphasize it's not equivalent that you're young and you will not develop complications. That's why we emphasize a lot of times we need to be vigilant. Keep your hand hygiene and infection control measures because you will never know whether you are the ones who are being affected severely by this infection," Ho said.

"This is also observed in other overseas experience. Some relatively young-aged infected persons, even if they didn't have any chronic disease, also died in either Italy or the UK. It's not common but it's not that rare."

Healthcare workers at Queen Elizabeth Hospital

A foodie friend who was recently released from the hospital after battling Covid-19 for two weeks has come out 15 pounds lighter. She described her experience in the hospital and made several observations including how hard the doctors and nurses work, and at times there aren't enough resources to go around.

She was diagnosed in the early stage of the virus in her body, and the doctor suggested her body could naturally fight the virus, but she opted for medication. That led to an adverse reaction where she had a high fever and scared her into wondering if she would make it.

This friend is also a writer and had planned to complete a personal writing project. Her fears of being in the hospital pushed her to write out an extensive outline in a few days despite being in a dazed state. 

In her ward were three other women, two were seniors, one was 71-years-old belonging to the dancing cluster, and another went to a family dinner at home with four people, three were infected. Another was at a gathering for nine people for a meal, eight caught the virus.

Be careful with hygiene to avoid catching the virus

My friend noted that in order to get discharged, it's not just about getting two negative tests in a row; it's also about your antibody count so that your chances of spreading the virus to others is nil, and hopefully you will have a much lower chance of getting reinfected.

A team also went to her flat to disinfect every part of her home to ensure the virus was not there, so when she returned home, there was an overwhelming smell of bleach, though she was grateful the cleaning was all done for her.

So, if you think maybe you can have a gathering with friends because it's Christmas, or one quick meal is no big deal, think again.

It's already been a year like no other -- so might as well finish it as healthy as possible for 2021.