Hong Kong: retirement homes hit hard by Covid-19

These establishments have become the epicenter of the unprecedented coronavirus epidemic that is hitting the city, their residents accounting for nearly 60% of coronavirus-related deaths since January, when the Omicron variant appeared.

Hong Kong has recorded nearly 3,000 deaths this year, mostly elderly people who are refractory to vaccination.

"I am constantly on the alert, dreading a call announcing bad news," said Ms. Wong to AFP.

His mother, who suffers from cognitive impairment and needs help with feeding herself, is one of nearly 60,000 residents of the city's retirement homes.

More than 1,700 residents have died from Covid-19, and 22,070 have been infected since the start of the year.

Hong Kong hospitals are overwhelmed: bodies are piling up, elderly patients are desperately waiting to be taken care of in improvised treatment rooms, even in the open air.

Retirement homes, under-equipped and suffering from a severe lack of staff, are coping with their meager means, explains Cheng Ching-fat, general secretary of the union of employees of these establishments.

Residents live, often bedridden, in tiny 6.5 square meter rooms, separated by basic partitions.

"Send Them To Die"

These houses "were not designed or equipped to (place people) in quarantine... we are at an impasse", laments Mr. Cheng.

"Forcing the elderly back into nursing homes is like sending them to die."

Two years of strict "zero Covid" policies largely contained the coronavirus in Hong Kong, until the arrival of Omicron in early 2022.

An elderly person leaves a vaccination center in Hong Kong after receiving a dose of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine, March 11, 2022 DALE DE LA REY AFP

In less than three months, some 600,000 contaminations have been recorded in Hong Kong, against only 12,000 during the first two years of the pandemic.

According to a study by the University of Hong Kong, the total number of infections would be close to 2 million, or more than a quarter of the inhabitants.

Hong Kong currently has one of the highest case fatality rates in the developed world.

For microbiologist Siddharth Sridhar, this is unfortunately not surprising.

In a tweet, he mentioned an overwhelmed health system, a low vaccination rate among the elderly and very low collective immunity in a territory so far almost spared by the virus.

Three factors that "created a perfect storm", according to him.

David, a geriatrician with around 60 nursing homes, believes the low number of Covid-19 deaths in Hong Kong in the first two years contributed to a "low level of vigilance" on the part of people's families. elderly.

So far, less than 50% of people in their 70s have received two doses of the vaccine, and only 32% of those over 80.

An elderly person arrives at a Covid-19 screening center on February 23, 2022 in Hong Kong Peter PARKS AFP / Archives

According to him, many were hesitant to get vaccinated, the fear of side effects being stronger than that of a disease almost non-existent for two years.

A fear that the authorities have done nothing to appease.

“A lot of relatives told us that it would be very hard for them if the elderly suffered from side effects and died,” David, who asked to testify under a pseudonym, told AFP.

On Wednesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced that all nursing home residents would receive at least one dose of the vaccine within two weeks.

But for trade unionist Cheng Ching-fat, it comes "too late" and "they cannot prevent the elderly from dying".

- Exhausted staff -

At Gracious Alliance, a retirement home on Hong Kong Island, in a fortnight, half of the 32 residents and all the staff were infected, said its director Rebecca Chau Tsang.

A large room including a toilet was used to quarantine positive cases and another for contact cases.

But it was "nearly useless" given Omicron's high transmissibility, she said.

Staff with mild symptoms stayed to lend a hand, a carer worked up to 20 hours a day, "it wore us all out".

Ms Wong, whose mother is staying in one of Hong Kong's few care homes still unaffected by Covid, says "the problem is with the government which has no solution and has not been effective".

"All we can do is sit and wait, but how long can old people hold out?"

© 2022 AFP