Hong Kong authorities warn 70 per cent of public hospital beds for children with Covid already full, adviser urges parents to vaccinate toddlers
- Some children have been admitted to adult wards instead, Hospital Authority Chief Manager Dr Lau Ka-hin says
- Professor Lau Yu-lung also predicts more transmissible Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants may account for 90 per cent of city’s caseload
Hong Kong health authorities have warned that 70 per cent of public hospital beds reserved for children with Covid-19 are already full, while a government adviser has urged parents to vaccinate their toddlers to cope with a surge in cases.
Officials on Friday also said authorities were making good progress on the procurement of a children’s version of the BioNTech vaccine, despite earlier comments from government pandemic adviser Professor Lau Yu-lung that a deal with the manufacturer might not be reached because it could be too costly.
The development came as health officials reported 9,901 new Covid-19 infections and eight related deaths on Friday, a day after more than 10,000 daily cases were recorded for the first time since late March. Authorities warned of a heavy burden on the healthcare system.
More government officials have also been infected. Deputy Secretary for Justice Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan and Permanent Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Joe Wong Chi-cho both tested positive on Friday and were under isolation.
Hospital Authority Chief Manager Dr Lau Ka-hin said beds for children with Covid-19 in public hospitals were nearly at full capacity as about 70 per cent were occupied. He added that some children had been admitted to adult wards instead.
“We have no choice if more children are admitted [to our hospitals], we must set aside more beds to provide them with suitable treatment,” he said, adding that the occupancy rate could not reach 100 per cent since hospitals needed vacant beds for new patients.
