Dozens of bodies are awaiting transportation in emergency rooms
As covid cases continue to climb in China, facilities storing dead bodies in Hong Kong are struggling to keep up with a record number of deaths.
While Europe and the US have largely got on top of Covid, Hong Kong is experiencing a surge, with dozens of bodies awaiting transportation from emergency rooms, reports Reuters.
Tony Ling, head of the city’s Public Doctors Association, said that the wait time is “because resources are so tight” due to workforce and storage shortages.
There have been more than 600 covid-related deaths in Hong Kong since the pandemic began in 2020, which is lower than the typical number of deaths for a city of Hong Kong’s size.
But while the UK has ended its covid restrictions, Hong Kong is seeing a steady rise in cases and subsequent deaths. On Sunday, the capital reported 83 deaths, bringing the total to 300 over the past week.
The majority of deaths are those who are not vaccinated. With around 4,000 people dying each month, medical experts believe cumulative death figures could reach 3,206 by mid-may.
On UK soil, new data suggests 30 per cent more covid deaths have occurred in the most deprived areas since the New Year. Of the 7,053 deaths registered in the six weeks following January 1, 22.5 per cent of them were from the poorest 20 per cent of the country, reports the Independent.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the pandemic should have served as “the wake-up call we need to confront these shocking inequalities.”
Instead, he claimed the Conservatives: “Are pricing people out of acting responsibly, by removing sick pay and ending free testing. Free tests can’t go on forever, and we would review them before the summer, but removing them now is like being 2-1 up with 10 minutes to go and taking off your best defender.”
Related links:
- Boris Johnson confirms all remaining covid restrictions will be scrapped on Thursday
- Iran returns 820,000 vaccine doses as sixth covid wave hits because they were US-made
- Next covid variant could be worse than Omicron, warns Chris Whitty
