Private sector not fully tapped in pandemic war

A lawmaker for the medical sector David Lam Tzit-yuen said Hong Kong's private sector can play a bigger role in fending off the city's worst-ever wave of COVID-19.

The Hospital Authority has not fully mobilized all its medical resources in the city, particularly the private sector, which is not fully involved, the private surgeon said in an interview with China Daily.

The public sector is overwhelmed and strained by the surging of infections, and many calls for inquiries went unanswered, Lam said.

According to the government, as of Sunday, there were 10,416 people under home quarantine.

Family doctors and Chinese medicine practitioners can take charge of answering calls from residents, and providing medical consultancy for those under home quarantine, Lam said.

In the meantime, private hospitals can also take over non-COVID patients to relieve the burden on public hospitals, and treatment centers and clinics in the community can also help with minor surgeries, he said.

Hong Kong on Monday recorded its largest single-day tally – 7,533 confirmed infections, 58 times more than the 129 cases on Feb 1. For the past five days, the city reported a total of 29,408 cases, taking up 48.7 percent of the total 60,363 confirmed infections.

Lam said the snowballing infections has taken an unexpected toll on the city, exposing several issues faced by the city, including weaknesses in epidemiological tracking and lack of big data for mass and precise tracking, and the social-distancing measures were not enforced rigorously in the early stages.

One more factor in the dire situation is the failure to fully get private doctors involved in this battle, he said.

Lam said the mainland, with more anti-pandemic experience, could provide a new perspective for Hong Kong's pandemic fight. The mainland's help in medical resources and manpower will certainly bolster the city's anti-pandemic efforts by building quarantine facilities and enhancing its testing capacity.

He called on the city to unite all possible resources to get through these challenging times.