The Hong Kong government urgently authorized doctors and nurses from mainland China on Thursday to come and practice on its territory, fearing to see its health system overwhelmed by “the enormous increase in new cases of Covid-19 detected every day”.
Hong Kong, whose legal system is distinct from that of mainland China, has adopted “a legal framework” for the Chinese central government to “provide the necessary emergency support (…) in a more efficient and rapid manner”, the city government said in a statement.
Doctors from mainland China are currently not allowed to practice in Hong Kong without passing local exams and without being licensed.
The theoretically semi-autonomous territory is facing an unprecedented coronavirus wave, registering thousands of cases every day.
Hospitals are overwhelmed, with authorities demanding that all patients, even asymptomatic ones, be placed in solitary confinement in dedicated units.
Construction of two new temporary isolation centers to accommodate people infected with Covid-19, on February 24, 2022 in Hong Kong
© AFP – Peter PARKS
Teams from mainland China are currently building two new temporary isolation centers that will be able to accommodate 9,500 infected people, and the government has also requisitioned 20,000 hotel beds for this purpose.
Like mainland China, Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, has adopted an extremely strict “zero-Covid” strategy, thanks to which it has been largely spared the pandemic for two years.
But authorities in Hong Kong were caught off guard with the arrival in late December of the highly contagious Omicron variant.
“Hong Kong is now facing a very serious epidemic situation which continues to deteriorate rapidly,” the government said in its statement, announcing the use of emergency powers.
Bedridden patients outside the Caritas medical center in Hong Kong on February 15, 2022
© AFP – Peter PARKS
The emergency powers “exempt certain persons or projects from all relevant legal requirements” to act “to increase Hong Kong’s epidemic control capacity and contain the fifth wave within a short period of time”, according to the press release.
The announcement comes a week after Chinese President Xi Jinping urged Hong Kong to take “all necessary measures” to control the outbreak, stressing that the city cannot contemplate living with the virus like most of the planet. .
– “Exhausted” caregivers –
Allowing doctors from mainland China to work in Hong Kong has been debated for years.
People line up to get tested for Covid-19 on February 23, 2022 in Hong Kong.
© AFP – Peter PARKS
Before the pandemic, proponents of the possibility had argued that it could alleviate shortages in the city’s already overburdened health care system.
Local doctors objected, citing issues such as language and cultural barriers. They had been accused of showing protectionism.
Hong Kong has recorded more than 62,000 Covid cases since the start of this new wave, compared to just 12,000 in the previous two years.
Medical experts fear that the actual number of infected people is much higher.
Analytical laboratories are overloaded with the number of people being tested and many residents avoid being tested for fear of being placed in solitary confinement.
According to the hospital administration, around 1,200 caregivers have been infected since the start.
A deserted street in the Causeway Bay district on February 21, 2022 in Hong Kong.
© AFP – Peter PARKS
The chairman of the hospital authority, Henry Fan, said on Monday he hoped to send Chinese doctors and nurses, because the caregivers are “exhausted”.
Hong Kong has announced that its 7.4 million inhabitants will have to undergo three rounds of coronavirus screening tests in March.
According to projections, the city could register up to 180,000 contaminations and 100 daily deaths by mid-March.
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