It appears that Hong Kong is facing the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic as the hospitals and public mortuaries are overwhelmed with patients. The most important thing in all this is the fact that most of the residents in Hong Kong have not taken the vaccine against the Covid-19 virus.
In view of the ever-increasing cases of infection, the officials have not ruled out the possibility of lockdown. Tony Ling, head of the city's Public Doctors Association, said dozens of bodies in the hospital's accident and emergency rooms are waiting to be taken to mortuaries.
"Now more time is needed to collect these bodies, because the resources are very limited," he said while citing the workforce and storage capacity for the current situation. Recently, the vaccination drive has taken some pace but still the number of people not taking the vaccine is high in Hong Kong.
According to a Reuters report, many people have not taken the vaccine due to the fear of side effects and negligence. The government figures of 2020 states that an average of about 4,000 people have died in Hong Kong every month. More than 1 lakh 71 thousand cases of Covid-19 infection have been reported in the city.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's controversial vaccine pass scheme took effect on Thursday, barring unvaccinated people from a wide range of premises across the city.
Read | As Covid-19 cases multiply by 60, is Hong Kong’s health infrastructure failing?
Will Hong Kong impose lockdown?
On Monday, 34,466 new patients infected with the Covid-19 were registered in Hong Kong, while the number of dead has also increased. After this, the health officials have not ruled out the possibility of imposing a lockdown. Earlier, Hong Kong leaders had called the lockdown unrealistic.
Cases are increasing in Hong Kong mainly due to the Omicron variant of the virus. Daily cases have increased four times in a week from 7500 earlier. The Principal Medical and Health Officer of the city's Health Protection Center told during the press conference that the cases are doubling every three days.
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He said, "We think the cases will continue to rise." On Monday, 87 people died in the city, of which 67 were not vaccinated against Covid. Health officials said that the government can implement such measures under which people are asked to stay at home.
Hong Kong's Health Minister Sophia Chan said during a radio program on Monday that the government was discussing the possibility of a lockdown to reduce the movement of people and the ability to conduct large-scale investigations.
