Infection numbers at record high
Corona camp: Hong Kong builds container city for infected people
The current corona wave is pushing hospitals in Hong Kong to the limit.
In the fight against the omicron wave, the Hong Kong government is taking strict measures. Thousands of infected people will soon be isolated in newly built quarantine facilities.
The omicron wave has Hong Kong firmly in its grip. For a long time, the Chinese special administrative region came through the pandemic without any new infections. But the most violent corona wave since the outbreak of the virus has currently gripped the metropolis.
Almost 200,000 corona cases in two months
The “zero Covid” strategy decreed by Beijing no longer withstands the Omicron variant in Hong Kong. In the past few days, the number of infections has repeatedly reached new record values. Tens of thousands of infections have recently been reported every day. Since the beginning of the year, the authorities have recorded more than 190,000 cases of infection – in the first two years of the pandemic only 12,000 people were infected with the virus.
The health system is on the verge of collapse. According to a report by the “Editorial network Germany“The hospital beds for Covid patients are 90 percent occupied. On Sunday, Hong Kong’s hospital administration announced that the morgues were now overcrowded.
The government of the special administrative zone is therefore taking tough measures. In mid-March, all 7.4 million residents are to undergo three mandatory corona tests. The authorities are currently ruling out neither a hard lockdown nor a curfew. In order for the tests to be effective, “people’s freedom of movement must be restricted to a certain extent,” Hong Kong Health Minister Sophia Chan said on Monday.
Corona camps for infected people
Infected people should also be completely sealed off – in isolation centers that construction crews are currently building in the north-west of the financial metropolis. A corona camp is being set up there, made up of thousands of containers with cots, locked windows and outhouses. While Prime Minister Carrie Lam announced the quarantine facilities “mirrorDubbed a “miracle,” the majority of Hong Kongers felt the move was disproportionate.
According to media reports, the entire population could also face a nine-day, hard lockdown. According to the South China Morning Post, the government is expected to impose a “large-scale lockdown” after mass testing begins in March. What exactly the measures should look like is not yet clear.
Panic buying in Hong Kong
The announcement has already caused panic among Hong Kongers. Residents of the Chinese special administrative region flocked to supermarkets, greengrocers and pharmacies on Tuesday to stock up on supplies – in many shops they cleared the shelves completely. Meat, vegetables, frozen food, pasta, paracetamol and corona tests in particular were scarce.
Experts are of the opinion that the vaccination campaign has been neglected during the long period without infections. Less than half of the population has received two vaccinations against the coronavirus so far. That is why there are currently many deaths, especially in the current population.
Sources: afp, dpa, “Editorial network Germany“, “mirror“