Facilities for storing dead bodies at hospitals and public mortuaries in Hong Kong are struggling to keep pace with a record number of COVID-19 infections and deaths, eclipsing authorities’ attempts to control a worsening outbreak.
Dozens of bodies are waiting in hospital accident and emergency rooms across the territory to be transported to mortuaries, said Tony Ling (凌霄志), president of the Hong Kong Public Doctors’ Association.
“These bodies now need extra time to wait for collection, because resources are just so tight,” due to manpower and storage capacity shortages, he said.
Photo: Bloomberg
The government and Hong Kong Hospital Authority did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
There have been 659 deaths linked to COVID-19 in Hong Kong since the start of the pandemic at the end of 2019, less than in other similar major hubs.
However, numbers are climbing daily with a record 87 deaths yesterday, 67 of whom were unvaccinated.
A large proportion of Hong Kong’s elderly population are not vaccinated. Many have hesitated to be inoculated due to a fear of side effects and complacency due to the territory’s success in controlling the virus last year.
Medical experts have said that the territory of 7.4 million could see cumulative deaths from the virus potentially rising to about 3,206 by mid-May.
The government has in the past few days communicated to the public that the deaths are mostly among unvaccinated people.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) said that Chinese experts had suggested to her administration that they explain “more clearly the clinical situation of the death cases to the public and boost vaccination among the elderly,” a government statement released on Sunday night said.
Additional reporting by AP
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