Members of the Mainland medical support team arrived in Hong Kong today (March 14). They were welcomed by the Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LOCPG), Mr Yin Zonghua; the Director-General, the Coordination Department of the LOCPG, Mr Zhu Wen; the Under Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Chui Tak-yi; the Chairman of the Hospital Authority (HA), Mr Henry Fan; and the Chief Executive of the HA, Dr Tony Ko at the Shenzhen Bay Port.

 

     The Mainland medical support team comprises healthcare professionals from different disciplines. Initially, they will assist the HA in providing appropriate treatment for confirmed COVID-19 patients at the community treatment facility at the AsiaWorld-Expo. With the assistance of the support team, the service scale of the community treatment facility will be strengthened, thus speeding up the overall patient flow, and allowing the HA to concentrate its manpower on patients with more serious clinical conditions in public hospitals.

 

     The Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan said, “Focusing medical resources on reducing the number of severe cases and deaths is the current priority of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in coping with the fifth wave of the epidemic. Under the arrangement of multi-tiered approach in providing treatment, patients with more serious clinical conditions will be triaged to hospitals for treatment, while those with relatively milder conditions will be triaged to community treatment or isolation facilities, etc. In light of the rising number of confirmed cases, the HA is facing many challenges in patient triage and treatment due to the limited hospital beds and manpower shortage in the public healthcare system. The assistance of the support team will help more patients in need to receive timely and appropriate treatment.

 

     “The Government has at the same time been actively co-ordinating different sectors to join hands and ease the pressure on the public healthcare system, including requesting private hospitals to assist in receiving non-COVID-19 patients from the HA, and inviting healthcare professional bodies, medical and nursing schools of tertiary institutions, medical organisations, healthcare institutions and non-governmental organisations to provide medical support such as providing medical services in community isolation facilities and holding centres, setting up medical posts, providing telehealth services and hotlines.

 

     “I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Central Government and the Guangdong Provincial Government for recruiting experienced Mainland healthcare workers to come to Hong Kong within a short period of time and assist us in fighting the epidemic. It is a great boost for our anti-epidemic efforts in tackling the fifth wave of the epidemic.”

 

     Other members of the support team will arrive in Hong Kong progressively.