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Written by: Huang Shunyang
2020-08-24 17:18
Last update date: 2020-08-24 17:18The third wave of new crown pneumonia in Hong Kong continues, and residential care homes for the elderly have been lost repeatedly. As of last Thursday (August 20), there have been more than 130 confirmed cases in 17 residential care homes, including many deaths. Many residential homes for the elderly are cramped and the environment is harsh. They are originally "viral hotbeds." In addition, there is a shortage of elderly services. Some employees need to work across hospitals and districts, which undoubtedly pave the way for the outbreak of the homes. The Hong Kong Government should use this to review the inadequacy of elderly services and provide the elderly with a dignified environment for the elderly to cope with the aging population and public health risks.
There are more than 70,000 elders in 940 homes for the elderly in Hong Kong. It can be said that a good job of epidemic prevention in homes for the elderly should be able to prevent large-scale infection or death of the elderly to a large extent. However, starting from the first confirmed case in residential care homes for the elderly on July 6, as of last Thursday, there have been more than 130 confirmed cases in 17 residential care homes for the elderly. The Hong Kong-Thailand Care Center and the Salvation Army Long Hang Home for the Elderly A large-scale infection of more than 10 people occurred in the Golden Branch of the Kang Wo Nursing Center in Tuen Mun. Among them, 90% of the residents of the Gangtai Nursing Center have been diagnosed-34 of the 37 residents were diagnosed, and 8 of the 18 staff members were infected; the Kanghe Nursing Center involved 38 people and all residents needed to be evacuated Homes.
Many homes for the elderly are cramped and poorly ventilated, making them easy to become "virus hotbeds." (Photo by Liang Pengwei)
It is not difficult to see that in the first six months of the outbreak in Hong Kong, the prevention work of residential care homes for the elderly is worthy of recognition, so no residents were infected. The question is, why did the epidemic prevention situation of hospitals take a turn for the worse since July? What responsibilities does the SAR government bear for this? What is more worth thinking about is that apart from the epidemic, what structural problems have been exposed in the entire elderly policy itself?
To solve the problem of elderly care that places too much emphasis on residential care services, it is necessary for the authorities to promote a "long-term care system." (Profile picture / Photo by Liang Pengwei)
The above is excerpted from the 228th issue of "Hong Kong 01" Weekly (August 24, 2020), the original title of the article is "There are traces of outbreaks in hospitals, which expose defects in elderly services". If you want to read the full text, please click here to sample the weekly newsletter and browse more in-depth reports.
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