Public, private efforts count in HK pandemic fight

Editor's Note: When the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic struck Hong Kong, many young people braved the outbreak on the front line in their own ways. Sharing their devotion, optimism and love for the city and the people, China Daily presents their stories.

It was a day off for young Hong Kong private surgeon Kelvin Wong Kiu-fung, but he put on his doctor's outfit and began his day by calling patients at the Hospital Authority Community Treatment Facility at AsiaWorld-Expo, one of the city's major isolation facilities in operation during its worst-ever wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wong, in his 30s, checked the patients' health condition for the day and their medical history. After that, he attended a routine meeting, held at 2 pm every day, with infectious disease specialists, and offered advice on the treatment of individual cases.

He began his voluntary medical service in mid-January to help out at the treatment center. With the support of family members, he uses his time off on weekends to do the voluntary work.

Wong has been working side by side with doctors and nurses from public hospitals, who have been overwhelmed by the surge in infections in the city.

Since the current outbreak struck, 7,500 infected Hospital Authority staff members have not returned to work. Given the shortage of personnel, a public doctor at AsiaWorld-Expo needs to oversee an average of 20 to 30 patients, while volunteer medical workers like Wong mainly monitor the health condition of patients through phone calls.

Wong is among a growing number of medical workers from the private sector in Hong Kong who saw how acute the problem had become and stepped up to offer much-needed healthcare services on the front line of the city's battle against COVID-19.

Besides volunteering during their time off, some from the private sector have also joined the Hospital Authority in a formal capacity to reinforce manpower at public hospitals. In late January, the Hospital Authority, which manages all public hospitals, announced plans to recruit over 400 part-time medical staff, mainly retired and private medical professionals, to help meet the challenges.

During an eight-hour voluntary shift at AsiaWorld-Expo, doctors like Wong also need to provide mental health support, as many patients suffer from stress due to pandemic-related problems such as loss of income or homesickness.

Wong said many patients at the isolation facility were admitted with family members. But there were also exceptions. A mother with mild symptoms was sent to the facility but her young child was hospitalized. Wong and other volunteer doctors arranged an online video meeting so she could see her child.

His devotion has won the hearts of his patients. Many have expressed their gratitude to him, saying it is heartwarming to see doctors in private practice like Wong working extra hours as volunteers to take care of COVID-19 patients.

Wong understands the risks. "As private medical practitioners, if we get infected, our clinics, colleagues and families will be greatly affected," he said. "But at this critical moment, as a medical worker, I cannot be absent from the front line.

"I believe that many private doctors are willing to lend a helping hand. The government can fully mobilize them to relieve the burden on public hospital workers."

He hopes that at this critical moment, Hong Kong people can face the challenge with a greater sense of urgency. As the central government has offered all-out support to the city to rein in the virus, Hong Kong society should be more determined and united to win the fight, he said.

Hong Kong's fifth pandemic wave seems to have peaked early this month, with daily new infections hitting over 50,000. Backed by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's efforts and the central government's staunch support, the daily caseload started to fall in the past few days.

As the city's anti-pandemic fight reached a critical stage, more private hospitals started to receive non-COVID-19 patients referred to them by overwhelmed public hospitals.

On Wednesday, Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee met with 60 representatives from the medical industry, calling for private hospitals to admit more referred patients to free up beds in the public health system. Chan also said she hoped more private medical practitioners would assist understaffed community isolation facilities, boost vaccination and provide other necessary medical services to COVID-19 patients. The sector representatives said they would actively mobilize their personnel to facilitate the fight.

Besides the treatment work, Wong has also volunteered to facilitate community vaccination. He has constantly provided vaccination consultation services for the elderly, and said many failed to get COVID-19 jabs because they couldn't get consultations at public hospitals to see if their health conditions made them fit for vaccination.

Recently, he also signed up for the government's outreach vaccination team. Together with two other private doctors, he went to Ta Kwu Ling in the northern New Territories on Saturday, helping vaccinate dozens of residents and students. He will help people on Cheung Chau Island get jabbed this week.

Although the city's vaccination rate has seen improvements, Wong called for more residents to get vaccinated as a precaution. "We must do our best to reduce the death rates of infected children and elderly people," he said.

In mid-February, a 114-member team of medical professionals from the Chinese mainland arrived in Hong Kong to support the city's anti-COVID-19 fight.

Wong spotted some familiar faces among them, as they are from a hospital affiliated with his alma mater, Jinan University in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. "I had missed them so much and I want to hug them," he said.

When the pandemic is over, Wong said he hopes to meet his teachers and friends at the university campus again. "We can go for a walk, have a meal, and go back to normal lives without wearing masks," he said.