Covid Deaths Overwhelm System

This shocking photo of body bags was released on social media

This horrific photograph went viral on Twitter today. It was taken about a week ago at the Accident and Emergency Ward at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Jordan, where there are six dead bodies in body bags lying in wards where there are three elderly patients.

The image was confirmed by a medic who works in the hospital. Since that picture was taken, the situation has been alleviated with more refrigerator units and mortuaries made available.

When the media asked about the photo this afternoon, the Health Authority's Sara Ho Yuen-ha confirmed it and apologised for the stress it had caused patients.

Ho apologised for the distress to the patients

"The authority is facing an unprecedented challenge... we are very sorry about bringing distress to patients. Our colleagues are also very unhappy about the situation. We hope everyone understands," she said.

Nevertheless it clearly illustrates how overwhelmed the Hong Kong healthcare system is and there is no end in sight with over 15000 people dying from Covid-19 per day, the majority of them elderly.

Another bottleneck has emerged in processing all the paperwork for each deceased person, while funeral homes are booked up until at least mid-April.

Kwok Hoi-bong, chairman of the Funeral Business Association industry group, said the government had to do more to resolve bottlenecks.

"Even though the government has increased the capacity of cremation incinerators to between 260 to 280 corpses a day, it has not given thought to other areas," he told a radio program.

He pointed out there are only 121 funeral halls in the city, but the average death toll was 200 dead per day.

Kwok says deaths are taking longer to process

Kwok said the authority should allow simple ceremonies to be performed in service halls in the hospital to allow families to bid their final farewells before taking the corpses to the crematorium or cemetery. 

While this will alleviate the logistics, there are families who insist in a proper send-off to loved ones. 

He also said death certificates used to take three to four days to be processed and now took six to eight, meaning corpses not being removed in a more timely manner.

Today Hong Kong recorded 29,377 local cases, 18,884 from PCR tests, 10,493 from RAT. There were 294 deaths logged, 196 from the past 24 hours, 98 backlogged. The age rage was 35-105, of the 196 dead, 114 were unvaccinated, 97 from residential care homes.

Currently only 54 percent of Hong Kong residents 80 years and older have had at least one jab. The government has pledged to focus on inoculating elderly people with mobility issues who live on their own. This alarm was sounded months ago by health experts, but the advice was not heeded... 

Simple Goodbyes During Covid

Lovely portrait of Robin at the funeral

Today I said goodbye to a friend who died a few weeks ago from cancer. Robin Piers Lynam was 63.

I didn't know him that well, but more on a professional basis, and he was such a gentleman in an English sort of way. He was so knowledgeable on so many different subjects, from food to wine, music both classical and jazz, and was a musician too who played the guitar.

He was a Renaissance man who refused to get a mobile phone until he was diagnosed with cancer over two years ago and had to keep in touch with the medical clinics for his treatments.

Robin passed away at age 63 of cancer

The last time I saw him was about half a year ago at a lunch in Somm at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental, and I was so genuinely happy to see him as I knew he was battling cancer at the time and glad to see he looked well and had a decent appetite.

We said our goodbyes at the MTR station after, and I expressed hope to see him again soon.

That did not happen until today.

Due to Covid restrictions, 40 people were invited to come to the crematorium at Cape Collinson above Chai Wan, but only about 15 people showed up. We had a socially-distanced shuttle ride from Central that took less than 20 minutes.

When we arrived, his partner tearfully hugged everyone, and although she barely knew me she held me tightly.

Before entering the bare bones funeral hall, we scanned our Leave Home Safe app, where there were no flowers, just a plain room with seats on both sides, and on the left a rolling conveyor belt with a curtain to the crematorium.

Someone placed a portrait of Robin on the table and then the mini service began with his partner thanking us for coming, how they had 25 years together and was so grateful for every moment they were with each other.

She then invited each of us to say our goodbyes, which most people did briefly, including myself. His partner then said a few more words and played a lovely song in which she cried loudly throughout.

Cape Collinson is a no-frills crematorium

Periodically someone behind the curtain dressed in full protective equipment including goggles peered through to see if we were done yet.

When the folksy song ended, she pressed a green button and the coffin moved forward behind the curtain. Robin's partner will take his ashes back to the UK, as he and his older brother have predeceased his mother.

And that was it. We checked out of our Leave Home Safe apps and it was 16 minutes.

That's what a no-frills funeral is like these days.

Robin would probably be surprised to see how sparse the room looked, but maybe would think it was practical not to have flowers and having people fuss over him.

It was just so sad to see hardly any ceremony and not being allowed to have anything too elaborate. With so many deaths these days from Covid, the funeral parlours and crematoriums are very busy, though we did not see the next party come in.

I really enjoyed working with Robin -- he was so helpful whenever I had to publish say a supplement on wine or a wine magazine. He would ask me which wineries to include and then in a few weeks came out with practically flawless stories featuring the vineyards I had asked him to write about.

He was really a lifesaver.

Lam finally wearing a mask to address the public

Will miss his acerbic wit, knowledge on so many subjects and overall just a gentle soul to be around.

Hope you are resting peacefully on the other side.

On the Covid-19 front, today Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor made her first public appearance since February 22 to now give daily updates on the pandemic situation in Hong Kong. And for the first time she appeared speaking with a mask on!

So much for wanting to show people how she really feels, when as the leader of Hong Kong she should set an example and wear a mask indoors, as stipulated by pandemic regulations.

Today the city logged 58,750 cases (25,991 from PCR tests, 32,766 from RAT tests). The latter are considered confirmed after all the relevant information is inputted into the website and the government issues the applicant an isolation order. Many were backlogged cases from since February 26 to now.

The number of deaths was 195, of which 145 were not vaccinated, with ages ranging from 41 to 105. The youngest person was a domestic helper who had fainted and was found by her employer. At the hospital the helper was found to be infected after a RAT test, but it is not clear if the helper died of Covid as she was found to have a brain hemorrhage. Another female aged 45 had cancer. 

The alarming message

Infectious disease expert Dr Gabriel Leung has said on Twitter that according to the University of Hong Kong modelling, the fifth wave should have peaked on March 4 with over 1.8 million people infected.

When asked to comment on this, Dr Albert Au Ka-wing of the Centre for Health Protection said it was still a bit too early to know if the fifth wave had peaked yet, and would probably find out in another week or so as case numbers are still high.

In the meantime around dinner time everyone in Hong Kong received a fright on their phones with alarms going off because the government decided to send a very important text message letting everyone know that Queen Elizabeth Hospital is now only for Covid patients.

It was already announced yesterday.

Did they really need to do that? Everyone immediately complained on Twitter.

For some reason my phone went off an hour later... since then people have all changed our settings to not receive such alarms anymore...

Enticing the Elderly with Coupons to get Jab

Some elderly sign up for the jab at Shek Lei Estate, Kwai Hing

From the beginning, people suggested a good incentive would be for the government to handout  HK$5,000 in cash to people who are fully vaccinated.

But did the authorities consider this proposition?

"To offer cash or something physical to encourage vaccination shouldn't be done by the government and may even cause the opposite effect," said Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in late May.

Officials are urging the elderly to get the jab

But vaccination rates would have definitely been at higher levels if the government had done that from the beginning instead of relying on the corporate sector to create lucky draws in order to incentivize more people to get jabbed.

Now the government is desperately trying to get older people inoculated -- the most vulnerable population -- and now it's trying something new -- walk-in clinics and HK$200 in coupons.

Currently there are only 13 percent of those over 80 who are fully vaccinated. Part of the reason is misinformation, part of it is them not being internet savvy. Who would expect elderly people to be able to book an appointment online? The government is naive to think seniors' children will help them.

So today vaccination stations were set up in Shek Lei Estate in Kwai Hing, and one man in his 90s admitted he was there to get jabbed in order to receive HK$200 in supermarket coupons.

Seniors can use walk-in vaccination stations now

"I am poor so that's why [I'm getting the vouchers]," he said. "I was told by a district councillor [about the program today]."

The government will set up vaccination stations in Queen Elizabeth, Tuen Mun, and Queen Mary hospitals next week.

Fifty-eight percent of residents in their 60s have received at least one jab, while for those in their 70s it's 39 percent.

Today 260 seniors got vaccinated at Shek Kei Estate, and another 100 at Lok Sin Tong Benevolent Society Kowloon in Kwun Chung Sports Centre.

C'mon folks! Let's get the jab for HK$200 supermarket coupons!

Covid Patient on the Lam

Li was taken back to hospital after he was caught in Mongkok

 

There was a sigh of relief in Hong Kong after a 63-year-old man who is infected with the coronavirus was caught on Sunday evening after he escaped the hospital on Friday.

Li Wan-keung was found near Shanghai Street and Changsha Street in Mongkok late on Sunday evening and taken back to Queen Elizabeth Hospital by officers wearing protective gear.

Li Wan-keung was on the lam for 54 hrs

The man was out on the lam for 54 hours and refused to tell the authorities where he went, which will make contract tracing next to impossible. There are concerns he might have visited some brothels which are near where he was arrested, which makes this already scary story sound seedier.

"We will check security camera footage from shops, dash cameras of vehicles and buildings to find out where he had been during the period he was missing," a source said yesterday.

It is expected Li will be discharged from the hospital on January 18 and then he will be formally arrested. It is illegal for anyone who is in quarantine or isolated in hospital to flee. If convicted, people can face a fine of up to HK$5,000 and two months' imprisonment.

This was not the first time Li tried to flee the hospital. He had tried to leave the day before and it was reported medical staff found him very uncooperative; it took some convincing for him to cooperate with treatments and tests. 

Apparently on Friday the medical staff, dressed in full protective gear claimed Li "moved too quickly" for them to catch him.

Security will be beefed up at all hospitals now

Now the Hospital Authority is looking into beefing up its security following this incident, and Li's ward will have security guards watching the entrance and security will be stepped up in other hospitals.

Li seems to be an anomaly, as most patients just want to get well as quickly as possible so that they can leave the hospital and so they are willing to take whatever medication or treatment necessary.

Hopefully Li will be out of action as it were for the next few weeks, gets better and cooperates with the authorities and healthcare workers. We all need to work together to fight this virus!

Oh did I just parrot a government slogan?!