HK mulls hard lockdown as infections rise, bodies pile up

Reuters

Hong Kong may impose a hard lockdown that confines people to their homes, authorities signaled on Monday, with the city's zero-COVID strategy in tatters and bodies piling up in hospitals.

Two years of strict zero-COVID policies kept the coronavirus largely at bay but a breakthrough of the highly transmissible Omicron variant exposed how little authorities had done to prepare for a mass outbreak.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam previously ruled out a citywide lockdown and instead has ordered all 7.4 million residents to be tested in March.

But in a U-turn, health secretary Sophia Chan confirmed Monday that it was still an option.

Asked by a presenter at Commercial Radio whether a lockdown was still ruled out she replied: "No. We are still discussing."

"From a public health perspective, to bring out the best effect of compulsory universal testing, we need to reduce people's movements to some extent," she added.

Chan's comments came a day after Li Dachuan, a senior mainland official involved in a joint taskforce with Hong Kong authorities, described a lockdown as "the most ideal and best approach to achieve the best effect of universal tests."

The revelation adds fresh uncertainty and anxiety for residents and businesses in a city gripped by the kind of chaos that was more familiar at the start of the pandemic.

Hong Kong reported a daily record high of 34,466 new coronavirus infections and 87 deaths Monday, health authorities said.

Hospitals have been stretched to breaking point for weeks and on Sunday officials revealed bodies are piling up at hospitals because mortuaries are full.

"At this moment, we face a problem of transportation of dead bodies from hospital to public mortuary," Hospital Authority chief manager Lau Ka-hin told reporters.

"That's why there are some bodies who were initially planned to be transported to public mortuary, but stayed in hospital."

Hong Kong's 7-day average death rate is currently running at around 8 per 1 million people.

That compares with five per million for the United States, 1.80 for Britain and 1.36 for Singapore which, like Hong Kong, initially opted for zero-COVID but shifted more recently to a mitigation strategy.

Officials have revealed that 91 percent of those who have died in the current wave were not fully vaccinated.

The vast majority of the dead – 92 percent – are people aged 60 or above with the median age 84 years as the virus rips through care homes in the densely populated city.

Despite ample supplies Hong Kong had a dismal vaccination rate among over-70s before Omicron struck.

(Agencies)