‘WHATEVER CITY NEEDS, BEIJING WILL GIVE’

Vice-Premier Han Zheng makes pledge as he criticises local private hospitals for not doing utmost to help victims of raging fifth viral wave

A state leader has pledged that Beijing will firmly support Hong Kong’s fight against its coronavirus epidemic by ensuring a steady supply of necessities, while calling on private hospitals to do more and for authorities to prioritise care for the elderly.

Vice-Premier Han Zheng, who oversees the city’s affairs for Beijing, made the remarks during a meeting yesterday with Hong Kong politicians attending the annual session of the country’s top advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Political analysts said the remarks reflected Beijing’s disappointment that despite guidance from top mainland experts, the Hong Kong government had yet to mobilise enough resources in the private sector to fight the pandemic.

But a representative of the city’s private hospitals said they had been cooperating with government requests and were trying to help.

Hong Kong yesterday confirmed 31,008 new coronavirus infections – the second day in a row case numbers had fallen – taking the city’s official tally to 471,617. However, Dr Albert Au Ka-wing of the Centre for Health Protection said it was too early to read anything into the decrease.

“We need to monitor for another one to two weeks at least to find out if we have reached the peak and cases start to fall,” he warned.

Deaths hit a new record, with the Hospital Authority reporting 153 new fatalities in the past 24 hours, involving patients aged between 31 and 105. Another 76 people, aged 24 to 105, died earlier but the cases were only reported yesterday due to a backlog. The Centre for Health Protection also announced four additional deaths, of patients aged between 56 and 89, which did not go through the authority’s system.

The city’s coronavirus-related death toll is now 2,007.

As of Saturday night, 57 patients were critically ill, including 42 who were unvaccinated, while 123 were in a serious condition, with 79 unjabbed.

CCTV reported yesterday night that during the meeting with delegates from Hong Kong and Macau, Han said the city’s epidemic situation was critical.

“The city’s government must take up the main responsibility, and all relevant central and regional authorities need to fully support it and ensure [a steady] provision of supplies to strengthen medical aid,” Han said.

According to CPPCC member Thomas Pang Cheung-wai, Han accused Hong Kong’s private hospitals during the meeting of going against the medical sector’s mission to save lives because of a reluctance to open their doors to more coronavirus patients.

“The vice-premier said he saw on the internet that private hospitals in Hong Kong had refused to take Covid-19 patients, and asked if that was true,” Pang added.

“The delegates said yes, and Han replied: ‘How is that possible? That is not right, how can a city only rely on the government’s hospitals to fight the pandemic? Even in Wuhan in 2020, all public and private hospitals were involved.’”

But Dr William Ho Shiu-wei, chairman of the Hong Kong Private Hospitals Association, said it was “not completely fair” to suggest they were not treating Covid-19 patients, explaining they still looked after people who tested positive but were waiting to be transferred to a public facility.

Jonathan Choi Koon-shum, a member of the CPPCC’s Standing Committee, added that Han had also said: “Whatever Hong Kong wants, Beijing would supply and provide.

“He said Beijing would fully support the city’s anti-epidemic work and has so far convened several coordination meetings on Hong Kong’s situation.”

The vice-premier also said Beijing would ensure that the supply of medical goods and daily necessities to Hong Kong continued to remain stable.

Lawmaker and CPPCC delegate Johnny Ng Kit-chong said the vice-premier mentioned that while Beijing had sent its best anti-epidemic personnel to help Hong Kong, more help would be provided if necessary. Hong Kong’s delegation also spoke of how Han had urged authorities to prioritise the treatment of infected seniors.

CPPCC member Kenneth Fok Kai-kong said the vice-premier had spoken for 45 minutes and had relayed the concerns of President Xi Jinping and other top mainland officials.

“The situation in Hong Kong is still critical … But the top priority is to save lives, especially the lives of the underprivileged and the elderly,” Fok said, citing Han’s remarks during the meeting.

“The central government will respond to every request from Hong Kong, and fully accept the city’s wish lists … to ensure Hong Kong people’s daily lives will not be affected.”

Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of semi-official think tank the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said Han’s remarks showed that Beijing saw Hong Kong’s fifth wave as a serious health crisis, or even a political one.

“As the number of infections and deaths have kept rising in the past week, fear is spreading in society, and the people’s grievances against the government are also going up,” he warned. “That could be very unfavourable for Hong Kong’s governance and stability.”

Lau also said he believed Han’s remarks showed that Beijing had been “very worried and disappointed” about the situation in Hong Kong.

On the private hospitals, Lau said the government should have used any administrative and legal means available to get them to help, and yet it had not done so.

Tam Yiu-chung, the city’s sole delegate to the NPC Standing Committee, said state leaders found it “strange” that private hospitals had been doing so little.

We need to monitor for … one to two weeks … to find out if we have reached the peak

DR ALBERT AU, ON CITY CASE NUMBERS

A state leader has taken Hong Kong’s private hospitals to task for their reluctance to admit Covid-19 patients, stressing health care workers should save all lives instead of choosing who they treat.

Vice-Premier Han Zheng criticised the private hospitals during a meeting in Beijing yesterday with Hong Kong delegates to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the nation’s top advisory body.

According to CPPCC deputy Thomas Pang Cheung-wai, Han, the state leader overseeing Hong Kong affairs, accused the hospitals of going against the medical sector’s mission of saving lives because of their reluctance to open their doors to more coronavirus patients.

“The vice-premier said he saw on the internet that private hospitals in Hong Kong had refused to take in Covid-19 patients, and asked if that was true,” Pang said.

“The delegates said yes, and Han replied: ‘How is that possible? That is not right, how can a city only rely on the government’s hospitals to fight the pandemic? Even [during the first coronavirus outbreak] in Wuhan in 2020, all public and private hospitals were involved.’”

Pang said the vice-premier also expressed hopes that various sectors in the city would unite in support of government efforts and not “harbour emotions of weariness” in the fight against Covid-19.

Another delegate, David Lie Tai-chong, said Han was critical of medical professionals in private hospitals.

“He said every resident’s life is equally important. The mission of the white-clad angels is to save people’s lives – they have gone against their mission by choosing between patients,” Lie said.

But Dr William Ho Shiu-wei, chairman of the Hong Kong Private Hospitals Association, said it was “not completely fair” to suggest they were not treating Covid-19 patients. He said private hospitals still cared for people who tested positive during admission and were awaiting transfer to a public facility.

He said private hospitals also followed the government’s directions as part of its overall strategy to ease the burden on the public health care system by helping to take in non-Covid-19 patients.

“It is our role, if we are to help … the best way is actually to relieve the Hospital Authority’s non-Covid workload because these are all patients who need help, who can die or suffer,” Ho said. “We never shirk away from our responsibilities in the whole fight against the epidemic. The government understands what capabilities we have.

“We fully agree with VicePremier Han, that we should all fight the epidemic together hand in hand … It’s a matter of how and what role we are being allocated in the whole system.”

Asked about Han’s remarks, government pandemic adviser Professor David Hui Shu-cheong said: “It would be nice if the private hospitals could take some Covid-19 patients from the Hospital Authority.

If not, at least they can take over other patients to ease the pressure on public health facilities.”

To help develop the sector, the government has been offering nominal land premium prices when private hospitals build facilities on public land.

The Hospital Authority is in the “last bit of negotiation” with private facilities for more cooperation, according to Dr Larry Lee Lap-yip, a chief manager.

He said the CUHK Medical Centre, a non-profit private hospital at Ma Liu Shui, had already allocated 24 beds for Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms.

But Ho previously warned that private hospitals risked a system collapse if they took in Covid-19 patients, adding such facilities were also facing staff shortages amid the city’s worst coronavirus outbreak.

He told the Post yesterday: “We are already maximising what we have in terms of human resources and negative pressure rooms. Everybody’s chipping in and doing the best they can to help. Of course, we’ll still be looking at other ways to do better.”

It’s a matter of how and what role we are being allocated in the whole system

DR WILLIAM HO, CHAIRMAN OF THE HONG KONG PRIVATE HOSPITALS ASSOCIATION