At least 15 residents and one security guard in Yat Kwai House, Kwai Chung Village have been diagnosed with the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus so far, but the follow-up arrangement is different from the previous evacuation, but intensive testing. The reason is that Hong Kong does not have enough isolation and quarantine facilities, and cannot arrange home immediately. isolate.
The incident revealed that the government is not ready for large-scale quarantine at all, which is not conducive to short-term epidemic control and dynamic clearing.
The chain of transmission in Yikui Building began when a resident of the building tested positive for the new coronavirus before entering the hospital for a colonoscopy.
The CHP explained that the building broke out. The Pakistani woman who contracted the virus in the hotel earlier passed on to her husband, who later went to the building's garbage room to collect items.
Yuan Guoyong, an expert adviser to the government, estimated that her husband spread the virus to cleaners or security guards, and then to residents.
Yuan Guoyong said there was no sign that the building structure, air flow or plumbing problems caused the outbreak, and he did not think residents should be evacuated for the time being.
However, he also admitted that there are not enough quarantine centers in Hong Kong to house about 2,500 residents, and that there is not enough capacity to arrange home quarantine for the time being, so he advised residents not to leave.
The government requires residents to test every night from Friday to Sunday (21 to 23), and can only go out when they have a negative result the next morning.
On January 20, Yuan Guoyong visited Yikui Building.
(Photo by Liao Yanxiong)
Chen Zhaoshi once said that the quarantine center "can be activated immediately"
Even though we believe residents are following government regulations and expert advice, the decision to allow residents to go out has a chance of spreading the virus, especially with Omicron's high transmissibility.
More importantly, the government has been unable to prepare new quarantine centers and home isolation arrangements for several days, which is incredible.
On Wednesday (19th), the Secretary for Food and Health, Chen Zhaoshi, also said that there are still Pat Heung Junior Police Call Permanent Activity Center and Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Center, as well as three new quarantine hotels, providing at least 900 units. can be activated immediately."
Since it is a backup, residents can move in at any time. Even if the unit cannot accept all the residents, the infected person can be admitted to the same block or the same floor first to reduce the chance of transmission in the building.
Why did the unit fail to respond to the outbreak of the epidemic in Yak Kwai Building?
Is the manpower or the unit not ready?
Does the bureau keep track of the status of those facilities?
If not, has the bureau been misleading the public?
Because the government listed home isolation as a late option, it was not immediately useful when the community broke out.
Chen Zhaoshi mentioned in the interview at the beginning of the month that there is a priority between the two, that is, after close contacts have exhausted the quarantine center and quarantine hotel, home isolation will be considered.
Of course, even if the home isolation period is shortened to a few days, government departments have to contact and comfort residents, prepare basic meals and medicines, and take care of people with reduced mobility, which involves additional manpower and supplies.
Having said that, Hong Kong has also tried more than one day of forced quarantine.
At the beginning of last year, the government set up a restricted area in Jordan for 48 hours, and the government and the people fully cooperated.
Since the Government was able to mobilize manpower resources in a short period of time a year ago, why is it unable to do so for even a single building this time?
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Quarantine center and home isolation are inseparable
In the face of the rapid spread of Omicron, the isolation and quarantine facilities may be insufficient, and the government must prepare for home isolation at the same time.
In addition to mobilizing internal personnel and materials, the government also educates citizens to avoid infection within their capabilities, such as wearing masks in the house, stocking up gloves, separating beds, taking body temperature, etc., especially when co-residents are suspected or have been diagnosed.
Three scholars from the CCOUC Institute of Disaster and Humanitarian Relief at the CUHK Faculty of Medicine recently wrote an article in a newspaper. In addition to suggesting a series of care recommendations, they also reported a telephone survey, stating that 80% of the respondents admitted that they had no basic knowledge of caring for patients with COVID-19. Two-thirds of the respondents said they had enough gloves.
For Hong Kong to adopt a dynamic anti-epidemic strategy, the government must do everything possible to prevent the spread of the new crown virus.
The Penny's Bay Quarantine Center must continue to improve its staffing arrangements. Isolation hotels and quarantine centers must continue to increase and be opened to those who need to be quarantined as soon as possible. The manpower and material resources to implement home quarantine must be deployed at any time. .
Only when the chain of transmission is cut off and the epidemic is under control, can society return to normal and customs clearance can have a deadline.
Epidemic prevention reflects the difference in governance capacity. Epidemic prevention measures can be ordered early to help academia and industry prepare in advance. Dynamic reset balance needs to be adjusted to the test of tightness.
