#16,583
Facing a tsunami of COVID positive cases (6000+ daily last 3 days), Hong Kong's tough Zero-COVD policies are becoming increasingly impossible to maintain. A month ago, Hong Kong was routinely finding - and isolating - only 10 to 20 people a day.
Last October, in Hong Kong Tightens Hospital COVID Discharge Criteria & Orders 14-Day Post Discharge Isolation Period, Hong Kong tightened their already-strict isolation and quarantine procedures in hopes of opening up travel to and from the Mainland.
Those revised rules received a good deal of criticism, not the least of which came from well known Epidemiologist Benjamin Cowling from the University of Hong Kong's School of Public Health, who was interviewed in the following RTHK report.
New Covid rules will waste hospital resources: expert
2021-10-27 HKT 09:20
Epidemiologist Benjamin Cowling on Wednesday said requiring recovered Covid patients to spend an extra two weeks in hospital before being allowed to go home will waste public resources.
The infectious diseases expert from the University of Hong Kong's School of Public Health, said there were no cases known around the world where a recovered, or even a re-positive case, had triggered a community outbreak.
At the time, I wrote:
Fast forward 4 months, and Hong Kong's daily new cases are outpacing discharges 25 to 1. Hospitals, isolation facilities, and quarantine centers are all at maximum capacity - and while most cases are asymptomatic, or only mildly ill - many who are in real need of hospitalization are on a waiting list for a bed.While these policies may be feasible now, when the number of daily cases in Hong Kong are running in the single digits - it will become much more difficult if they see another wave of infections like they did last winter.
Government announces criteria for discharge from isolation for infected persons
The Government announced the criteria for discharge from isolation for persons infected with COVID-19, with a view to making proper use of community isolation facilities (CIF), prioritising the processing of more imminent cases and reducing the potential transmission risks brought by the cases as far as possible.
The Hospital Authority (HA) is striving to send infected persons with higher risks to hospitals as early as practicable, whereas infected persons with no or mild symptoms will be sent to CIF whenever possible. In this connection, the HA and the Department of Health have earlier sought advice from experts and decided to adopt a risk-based strategy in suitably adjusting the duration of stay for infected persons in CIF.
Amongst the persons sent to CIF, those in suitable household conditions (e.g. living alone or do not have household members who are high-risk individuals, such as the elderly, pregnant women or immunocompromised persons) will be tested on Day 7 after positive nucleic acid test result (the day following testing or collection of sample is counted as Day 1; if there is no such testing or collection record, the day on receiving the test result is counted as Day 1) —
(a) Should the Day 7 test result be negative, these persons may return home and stay there until Day 14 for further testing. If the result is again negative, they may leave home and continue with their daily activities. If the Day 14 test result is positive, they will need to stay home and conduct daily tests until a negative result is obtained. Only by then can they leave home and continue with their daily activities.
(b) Should the Day 7 test result be positive, these persons will need to stay at CIF until Day 14 for further testing. If the result is negative, they may leave CIF and continue with their daily activities. If the Day 14 test result is still positive, they will need to stay at CIF and conduct daily tests until a negative result is obtained. Only by then can they leave CIF and continue with their daily activities.
For those in unsuitable household conditions (e.g. household members comprise some high-risk individuals), they will be tested on Day 14 after a positive nucleic acid test result was obtained. If the Day 14 test result is negative, they may leave CIF and continue with their daily activities. If the Day 14 test result is positive, they will need to stay at CIF and conduct daily tests until a negative result is obtained. Only by then can they leave CIF and continue with their daily activities.
According to the existing arrangements, the above testing requirements may be fulfilled by conducting Rapid Antigen Test. In consultation with experts, the Government will keep in view of the epidemic development and changes in risk level to adjust the criteria for discharge from isolation for infected persons in a timely manner.
As for persons admitted to hospitals, relevant cases will be handled by the HA and the specific discharge criteria will be subject to the professional judgment of medical practitioners. At present, persons admitted to hospitals who no longer show symptoms may be discharged to home, in general the earliest, on Day 7 after positive nucleic acid test result, provided that they have obtained a negative result by then. They will need to stay home until Day 14 for further testing. If the Day 14 test result is still negative, they can leave home and continue with their daily activities.
Ends/Sunday, February 20, 2022
Issued at HKT 23:01
While these steps may help free up isolation and hospital beds at a faster rate, the challenges facing Hong Kong - and likely the Mainland - by a much more transmissible Omicron variant are far from over.
Stay tuned.
