Review of the fifth wave of the epidemic・3｜More than half of the dead have been seen by the dean of the hospital, but they have no choice but to save themselves

The fifth wave of COVID-19 has claimed more than 9,000 lives in Hong Kong, more than 55% of which are residents of institutions, and 98% of which are lost.

The Hospital Authority has pointed out that the institution refuses to pick up mildly ill inmates, but the institution is worried that after the inmates return, it will spread to other inmates with weak resistance.

In the Yuen Long Kidd (Taheng) Nursing Home, where Li Hui, a member of the Elderly Affairs Committee, serves as the director, 90% of the residents were infected and 23 people died. She said that she had seen so many black box cars for the first time in so many years in the industry. Wrong decision, angrily scolding government departments for their own affairs, no coordination and no command.

The staff of Sham Shui Po Nuan Nuan Nursing Home cried and complained that they had been trapped for five days and were not allowed to leave and no one sent meals.

(File photo/Photo by Chen Aoqi)

The number of confirmed cases soared in early February, and the elderly and special institutions fell one after another.

The staff of Sham Shui Po Nuan Nuan Nursing Home cried to the reporter: "The outbreak broke out on February 8, and now (12) we have not been sent to quarantine, we are not allowed to go home, we have no food, and no one has come to enclose and enforce the inspection. There is nothing... no elderly people, all have been evacuated, and ten employees are left waiting to die."

In the end, 98% of the institutions in Hong Kong were lost. The fifth wave of the epidemic claimed more than 9,000 lives, and more than 55% of them were residents of the institutions.

Ninety percent of the residents of the Kidd Taiheng Nursing Home in Yuen Long are infected with the virus.

(Photo by Su Weiran)

In the Yuen Long Kidd (Taheng) Nursing Home, where Li Hui, a member of the Elderly Affairs Committee, was the director, 90% of the residents were infected and 23 residents died.

"Three died here, and three were sent away by a black box truck. I haven't tried it for decades. The ambulance has not arrived for more than 20 hours. The oxygen level kept dropping, and the breathing was so fast. During the two weeks at the peak, I had to help myself, helpless and helpless.” Li Hui said.

On February 17, Ho Wan-xia, Chief Administrative Manager (Patient Safety and Risk Management) of the Hospital Authority, pointed out that some institutions refused to take back elderly patients with mild symptoms.

(File photo/Photo by Huang Baoying)

Residents were diagnosed, and the residential environment could not isolate them, so they could only be sent to the hospital, but the hospital's emergency room was full, and the residents were pushed back to the residential building, which turned into a "human ball".

On February 17, Ho Wanxia, ​​Chief Administrative Manager (Patient Safety and Risk Management) of the Hospital Authority, spoke at a press conference on the epidemic, calling on institutions to cooperate: "Some institutions send the elderly to the A&E department to see a doctor, even if the doctor has assessed the situation of the elderly. It is suitable to return to the institution, but the institutions refuse to accept patients.”

Li Hui, a member of the Elderly Affairs Commission and the director of the Yuen Long Kidd Taiheng Nursing Home, denounced government departments as acting in their own way.

(Photo by Su Weiran)

However, Li Hui believes that the original site isolation is a wrong decision: "It's all a solution, because you don't have a 'square cabin', you don't have community isolation facilities, and the most important thing is that you don't have manpower."

In the middle of the epidemic, the authorities sent the residents to the AWE for isolation and treatment.

(File photo / Photo by Liang Pengwei)

Hospitals are full, isolation facilities are insufficient, and there is no need for diversion. Residents with mild symptoms have to return to the hospital, increasing the risk of re-infection. The authorities will only isolate and take care of the residents at a later stage.

"The fifth wave is to fully experience that government departments are separate, there is no coordination, there is no unified command center... Such a developed city will have so many leaks, which seems to be a world-class joke." Li Hui said, The fifth wave of the epidemic confirmed that the institution was not used for isolation of highly infectious diseases, "because once there is a case, it will definitely spread, and the elderly who spread it are all weak and sick, that is, if you leave a time bomb by his side, it will explode sooner or later. kill him."

Yuen Long Kidd Taiheng Nursing Home has no confined space, so it is difficult to isolate.

(Photo by Su Weiran)

Li Hui recalled that 21 people were diagnosed in his hospital at the beginning of the year, and after more than a month, the diagnosis rate was 90%. "Every scene made my heart hurt. After working for more than 30 years, I rarely see black box trucks coming up to transport corpses away. ”

From insisting on "clearing" to being forced to "coexist" in Hong Kong, Singapore made preparations for "coexistence" early in the morning. Only more than 500 people died in this round of Omicron.

Let's see in the next episode, what can we learn from the road to return to normal life.

There is no confined space in the institution, so it is difficult to achieve the original site isolation.

(Photo by Su Weiran)

The Fifth Wave Epidemic Review・1｜Tracking the Source of the Outbreak, Why Hong Kong Is Unprepared The dean of the hospital died after seeing all the black box cars, but he could not help himself