Hong Kong Had the World ’ s Highest COVID-19 Death Rate. It May Not Be Ready for Another Surge

Wong Wing-yan has taken to closing the doors of the empty bedrooms at the suburban Hong Kong nursing home where she works, so she doesn’t have to think about the residents who once occupied them. Some of the rooms are now being used as haphazard storage closets, stacked with mothballed furniture, wheelchairs, and boxes of personal protective equipment (PPE). Marks left by tape can still be seen on the walls, where photos of loved ones were once displayed. “There are many empty rooms now,” said Wong, a bespectacled nurse in her thirties, as she walked TIME through the facility in late April. “I’ve known [the inhabitants] for so long, and now when I see those empty rooms, I am depressed.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] COVID-19 finally came to the Kei Tak (Tai Hang) Home For the Aged on Feb. 13, after sparing it for two years and four previous waves of the disease. The next day, 17 residents tested positive. The day after that, it was 30. Soon, 98% of the residents had been infected—and after two months, 27 of the nursing home’s 200 residents had died. “Our elderly home turned into a battlefield as hospitals were overloaded and the healthcare system collapsed,” said Wong, who has worked at Kei Tak for more than 10 years. Leung Man Hei—NurPhoto/ReutersPatients lie in a temporary holding area outside Caritas Medical Center in Hong Kong on Feb. 16, 2022. She was a foot soldier in Hong Kong’s bat...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 feature Hong Kong Londontime overnight Source Type: news