James Pomfret

HONG KONG, (Reuters) – Lam Foon, 98 years old, lies on a hospital bed outside Hong Kong’s Caritas medical Centre. She is waiting for her initial positive COVID-19 test results.

Through a surgical mask she said that “I don’t feel good,” and was standing next to a patient similarly covered in a face shield and mask.

Lam was among dozens of people who were left in Caritas’ parking lot on Thursday. There was not enough room in the hospital, which serves more than 400,000 residents of Cheung Sha Wan district on the Kowloon Peninsula. In the midst of rain, temperatures dropped to 15° Celsius (59 F)

Lam was not able to be told by medical personnel how long he would need to wait. Patients who are preliminarily found to be positive for COVID need to undergo further testing before being treated.

These and other similar scenes in the financial center are indicative of a system of public healthcare that is under extreme strain due to an increase of COVID-19-related cases.

Hong Kong, once relatively immune to the coronavirus pandemic is now facing an epidemic in the entire city. Many businesses are giving up and others losing patience on the government’s zero COVID policies.

Sham Shui po is home to a number of residential blocks as well as public housing estates. The area has seen fewer tourists and less crowds.

Trevor Chung (29), a Caritas medic, blamed the government for insufficient planning, shortages of medical equipment and beds, as well as chronic shortages of manpower.

Chung said, wearing a full face visor and blue Hazmat suit that “the government underestimated” the situation. I expect the situation to worsen. Many of the elderly in this area are not vaccinated and there are many.

The Hong Kong government apologized Thursday for the dire conditions at the hospitals in the city that serves 7.4million people.

A zero-COVID city policy meant that even mildly ill people were sent to hospital or quarantine centers. However, the government is currently adjusting their strategy due to the overwhelming healthcare system.

LAM UNDER PRESSURE

This has put more pressure on Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam whose 5-year term expires in June.

Lam claims that surrendering to the virus is not possible, and Chinese President Xi Jinping said Hong Kong’s “overriding mission”, to contain the virus. However, others remain skeptical.

You can clearly see that I am wearing two masks. Lo Kai-wai (59) said that he needed to be protected because the government wouldn’t protect him. He was a logistics worker who stood in line at a mobile testing center, which had exceeded its daily limit of 3,000 users.

“I don’t wish to see Lam (Lam) win a second term.”

Many business owners who are harmed by restrictions imposed by the government also have concerns about whether current policies can be sustained.

Timothy Poon (23), a manager at a nearby cafe whose sales have dropped up to 60% due to the epidemic, stated that the government must find a more balanced approach to controlling the virus and allowing people to get on with their lives.

“The Zero-COVID Policy is an impossible mission.”

Some people are however more optimistic.

Lung Mei Chu, 78, said that if everyone was willing to be vaccinated the situation would improve.