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Coronavirus Hong Kong
OpinionComment
Stephen Wong
Stephen Wong

Opinion | Hong Kong needs to end Covid-19 child separation in hospitals amid growing mental health crisis

  • Inconsistent, opaque government practices are still separating families and exacerbating Hong Kong’s mental health crisis
  • The government should review these policies, improve transparency and promote greater well-being

Reading Time:3 minutes
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Patients wait in a temporary holding area outside Caritas Medical Centre in Cheung Sha Wan on February 17. Photo: Sam Tsang
Stephen Wong
As a father of two, I am deeply sympathetic towards the numerous cases of children with Covid-19 who have been separated from their parents and admitted alone to the isolation wards of public hospitals managed by the Hospital Authority.
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The authority’s failure to prioritise family unity and children’s best interests have left families living in anxiety and fear. This is clearly detrimental to people’s long-term mental health and could carry negative public health implications.

Children in these cases are usually in a developmental stage, during which parental attention and affection are critically important. Even so, they are unfortunately separated from their parents because of the inconsistent and opaque guidelines and practices from the government and relevant authorities.

The government should review policies that separate children from their families, improve transparency in such decision-making and develop policies and interventions to promote child and family well-being.

Unicef advises governments that Covid-19 isolation decisions should not only be made on medical factors such as infectious risk. They should also take into account the possible consequences of family separation, with the child’s interest as the primary consideration.

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Although Hospital Authority chairman Henry Fan Hung-ling and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor have said parents will be accommodated with their children, there is no substantial evidence to suggest hospital practices are being changed accordingly. Parent-child separations continue, despite the fact paediatric ward occupancy rates are below 50 per cent across the Hospital Authority clusters.
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