Berliner Boersenzeitung - Hong Kong parents decry child separations during virus surge

EUR -
AED 4.324438
AFN 82.328185
ALL 97.949419
AMD 453.271707
ANG 2.107025
AOA 1079.636914
ARS 1449.927532
AUD 1.795358
AWG 2.122186
AZN 1.990127
BAM 1.954815
BBD 2.380071
BDT 144.607168
BGN 1.955302
BHD 0.443822
BIF 3511.586629
BMD 1.177357
BND 1.500925
BOB 8.145897
BRL 6.365024
BSD 1.178791
BTN 100.508378
BWP 15.572091
BYN 3.857757
BYR 23076.197533
BZD 2.367907
CAD 1.60034
CDF 3396.675125
CHF 0.934236
CLF 0.02847
CLP 1093.644109
CNY 8.436237
CNH 8.434891
COP 4697.183555
CRC 595.092696
CUC 1.177357
CUP 31.199961
CVE 110.209492
CZK 24.624403
DJF 209.911602
DKK 7.461312
DOP 70.463613
DZD 152.811006
EGP 58.09939
ERN 17.660355
ETB 162.604613
FJD 2.634572
FKP 0.862382
GBP 0.862196
GEL 3.202678
GGP 0.862382
GHS 12.200855
GIP 0.862382
GMD 84.181539
GNF 10220.808822
GTQ 9.063435
GYD 246.625785
HKD 9.242194
HNL 30.798357
HRK 7.534265
HTG 154.780072
HUF 398.487987
IDR 19055.287849
ILS 3.930624
IMP 0.862382
INR 100.608101
IQD 1544.202579
IRR 49596.16423
ISK 142.389078
JEP 0.862382
JMD 188.32435
JOD 0.834746
JPY 169.961488
KES 152.345617
KGS 102.959991
KHR 4731.556641
KMF 492.135408
KPW 1059.578096
KRW 1605.597618
KWD 0.359353
KYD 0.982393
KZT 612.503705
LAK 25399.88359
LBP 105621.403141
LKR 353.647378
LRD 236.35096
LSL 20.645002
LTL 3.476429
LVL 0.712172
LYD 6.347722
MAD 10.576473
MDL 19.851002
MGA 5177.370399
MKD 61.514133
MMK 2472.040219
MNT 4224.807876
MOP 9.5308
MRU 46.751453
MUR 52.922057
MVR 18.128529
MWK 2044.161764
MXN 21.964892
MYR 4.973745
MZN 75.303303
NAD 20.644739
NGN 1800.6381
NIO 43.377968
NOK 11.869454
NPR 160.810958
NZD 1.941497
OMR 0.452699
PAB 1.178806
PEN 4.198286
PGK 4.866528
PHP 66.42671
PKR 334.519655
PLN 4.249107
PYG 9398.14683
QAR 4.295936
RON 5.059923
RSD 117.183551
RUB 92.839359
RWF 1693.339948
SAR 4.415489
SBD 9.815536
SCR 17.271949
SDG 706.982177
SEK 11.24715
SGD 1.499715
SHP 0.925218
SLE 26.431679
SLL 24688.592283
SOS 673.657847
SRD 43.779986
STD 24368.913178
SVC 10.314674
SYP 15308.030561
SZL 20.654334
THB 38.075993
TJS 11.428398
TMT 4.132523
TND 3.429373
TOP 2.757486
TRY 46.920697
TTD 7.986876
TWD 34.069761
TZS 3114.646199
UAH 49.220701
UGX 4228.870104
USD 1.177357
UYU 47.226214
UZS 14843.523969
VES 128.889394
VND 30817.908599
VUV 140.260432
WST 3.06316
XAF 655.624007
XAG 0.031985
XAU 0.000352
XCD 3.181866
XDR 0.815386
XOF 655.618441
XPF 119.331742
YER 285.096832
ZAR 20.707824
ZMK 10597.623008
ZMW 28.438677
ZWL 379.108479
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Hong Kong parents decry child separations during virus surge
Hong Kong parents decry child separations during virus surge

Hong Kong parents decry child separations during virus surge

Hong Kong parents are being separated from children and babies who test positive for the coronavirus, compounding public anger over the financial hub's lack of readiness for a major outbreak now sweeping the city.

Text size:

The densely populated metropolis is in the throes of its worst-ever Covid wave, registering thousands of cases every day as hospitals and isolation units run out of space.

A strict China-style zero-Covid policy kept the virus mostly at bay the last two years at the expense of marooning the city internationally.

But when the highly contagious Omicron variant eventually broke through earlier this year, authorities were caught flat-footed.

Hong Kong has been ordered by China to stick to its zero-Covid policy and aim to isolate anyone who tests positive even though the number of daily cases has soared far beyond capacity.

Some parents have complained of being unable to accompany children in hospital while others have flocked to social media to voice fears of separation if they seek treatment for themselves or sick young ones.

The revelation has sparked dismay, including among health professionals.

"If a child requires hospitalisation due to Covid, it should be made possible for one parent to stay in the same room unless the child's condition is very serious," Siddharth Sridhar, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, wrote on Twitter.

"In times like these, staying rational and compassionate is more important than ever."

- 'I'll sleep on the floor' -

Laura, a 32-year-old British-born permanent resident, told AFP her daughter Ava tested positive after she was admitted to hospital on Sunday night with a fever and laboured breathing.

Ava is now stable in the intensive care unit and will soon be moved to an isolation ward but she will have to recover without her parents for at least seven days.

"I've said I'll sleep in the corridor, on the floor, anywhere," she said, fighting back tears.

Laura and her husband Nick managed to share a quick video call with Ava on Tuesday.

"It was devastating," Laura recalled, asking to use just her first name.

"She's 11 months, she's aware of her surroundings, separation anxiety is at an all-time high at this age, she was inconsolable, just crying 'Mamma, Mamma'."

Online parent groups have filled with angst, fear and confusion this week.

Kunj Gandhi, the administrator of a popular Facebook support group for people going through quarantine, wrote that many hospitals had stopped letting parents stay with children as wards filled beyond capacity.

"Many (parents) tried to fight or rationalise it but in the end had to make the heartbreaking decision of leaving their child in hospital so the child could get the treatment he/she needs," she wrote.

On a 17,000-strong mostly Cantonese-speaking Facebook group for mothers looking for coronavirus treatment, many said they had sick children but feared going to hospital.

"My son is two and a half years old and has been feverish since early Monday morning," one member called Shan Hor wrote. "I don't know what to do. I am so scared."

Others wrote that calls to the health department and government advice lines went unanswered.

Lau Ka-hin, an official from Hong Kong's Hospital Authority, confirmed that children were being separated.

"We tried our best to arrange the children and the parents who are confirmed Covid positive to be in the same hospital so that the parents can take care of the children," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"But there are many, many cases and many children are infected. It takes time for our staff to arrange the suitable place for them."

- Schools disrupted -

Hong Kong authorities are facing rising anger over the lack of preparations to deal with a surge of cases despite two years of hard-fought breathing room earned through zero-Covid.

Usually uncritical newspapers such as Oriental Daily have published multiple editorials this week castigating city leaders, an outspokenness that is increasingly rare in Hong Kong as authorities crack down on dissent following 2019's democracy protests.

The strict, often changing social distancing measures have been punishing for businesses and especially grim for parents with schooling disrupted for the last two years.

On Tuesday, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced the summer holidays would be immediately brought forward to make school buildings available for three rounds of compulsory citywide Covid tests in March.

Figures this week showed departures from the city have reached their highest since the pandemic and political crackdown began.

But even then leaving Hong Kong is not easy with very few international flights.

Some health experts are worried Hong Kong's harsh isolation rules may in fact fuel the spread of the virus.

"My real fear now is parents delaying treatment due to fear of separation," David Owens, a local doctor, wrote on Twitter this week.

(K.Müller--BBZ)