According to Hong Kong media news, the situation of the new crown epidemic in Hong Kong continued to deteriorate, with 6116 new confirmed cases on the 17th, and another 6300 cases initially confirmed. The members of the expert group sent by the central government arrived in Hong Kong on the afternoon of the 17th, and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor greeted her at the Shenzhen Bay Port.
According to Xinhua News Agency, in order to implement the spirit of the important instructions of the central leading comrades on fully supporting Hong Kong's fight against the fifth wave of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, on February 16, Wang Hesheng, deputy director of the National Health Commission and director of the National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention, took the lead in command and led a team to Shenzhen to participate in the Coordination Meeting for the Mainland's Support for Hong Kong's Anti-epidemic Work; on the 17th, an expert working group meeting was held to guide Guangdong Province to send the first batch of mainland support for Hong Kong's anti-epidemic epidemiological expert group and mobile nucleic acid testing vehicles into Hong Kong on the same day (17th).
Hospital beds in public hospitals are in short supply
According to media reports, due to the surge in confirmed patients, beds in public hospitals across Hong Kong have exceeded demand, and emergency room services have been overloaded. Caritas Hospital in Sham Shui Po in Kowloon had to set up tents in open spaces because the emergency rooms were "bursting". Due to the rain and wind in recent days, medical staff have to provide blankets to patients or send down jackets to keep warm. The emergency room of Margaret Hospital in the New Territories was also full, and patients were arranged to sit in line outside the emergency room. Since the passage is full of patients, ambulances need to enter through the narrow passage when they arrive at the hospital.
Legislative Council member Ip Lau Suk-yee, who is also a member of the Executive Council, believed on the 17th that the situation in Hong Kong has become very critical, and more than 10,000 infected people have not been admitted to the hospital, and more than 1,000 cases have been confirmed every day, "Hong Kong has become a third world." She believes that now that the epidemic is raging, in addition to causing casualties, it has also "hurt the economy to the bone", and if it continues like this, foreign investment will lose confidence and make Hong Kong lose its international status.
Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) announced that the entire RTHK TELEVISION 32 will be adjusted to an "anti-epidemic station" from the 18th. From 8:00 a.m. to midnight every day, every hour, there will be anti-epidemic news in the first five minutes of every hour, broadcasting the latest news to the audience, including confirmed cases, quarantine arrangements, enclosure and compulsory inspection and other information.
The SAR government intends to test the whole people
Ye Liu Shuyi suggested on the 17th that we must use stronger means to stop the spread of the epidemic, otherwise Hong Kong will fall, and the government should actively consider testing for the whole people.
According to a number of Hong Kong media reports, the SAR government has decided to conduct compulsory testing for 7.5 million citizens in Hong Kong from March. The test will be coordinated by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Tsang Kwok Wai. The mainland has promised to send personnel to assist Hong Kong in sampling, and some of the test samples will be sent to Shenzhen for testing.
At that time, the Government will divide all districts in Hong Kong into over 100 testing centres and organise testing according to the identity card numbers of citizens. It is planned to test 1 million people daily, each 3 times for 3 weeks, and those who do not do so will be fined HK$10,000.
It is reported that the amount of nucleic acid testing in Hong Kong is now 200,000 times a day, and when the "FireEye Laboratory" is fully operational, the test volume at the end of February can reach 300,000. Based on the 7.5 million people in Hong Kong, it will take 25 days for all Hong Kong people to be tested. Sources said the SAR government expects to triple the number of tests to 900,000 to 1 million per day, which will allow full testing within a week.
On the 16th, the National Security Office in Hong Kong issued a statement saying that it supports and cooperates with the SAR government in fulfilling its main responsibility for epidemic prevention and control and protects the life safety and physical health of the general public. Support the SAR Government in cracking down on all kinds of interference and sabotage of anti-epidemic acts in accordance with the law, effectively control major risks and hidden dangers, perform Hong Kong's duties and tasks of safeguarding national security, and ensure the stability of the overall social situation in Hong Kong.