Hong Kong reported 15 coronavirus deaths and more than 6,000 confirmed cases for a second day in a surge the Chinese territory's leader says is overwhelming hospitals.
Also Saturday, the government announced plans to have construction crews from mainland China build isolation units with 10,000 beds after crowding at hospitals forced patients to wait outdoors in winter cold.
There were 6,063 confirmed cases in the previous 24 hours, raising the territory's total to 46,763. That was down slightly from Thursday's 6,116 but one of Hong Kong's highest daily totals.
Hong Kong has tightened travel and business controls as it tries to contain the surge. On Friday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the election for her post would be postponed by six weeks to May 8 due to public health risks.
Lam said Monday the territory's hospitals were overwhelmed. The government said the new isolation and treatment units will be built in the Penny's Bay and Kai Tak districts.
Mainland Chinese crews have experience constructing hospitals quickly after two facilities with 1,500 and 1,000 beds were built in Wuhan, the center of the outbreak, in 10 days in early 2020. They also converted 16 other buildings into isolation hospitals.
Lam said her government also would use hotel rooms, sports facilities and newly built public housing units to hold patients.
The chief executive of the Hospital Authority, Tony Ko, apologized in a radio broadcast Saturday after patients were forced to wait outdoors. He said most had been moved indoors or to other facilities.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU