Private hospitals should treat Covid: Han Zheng

Vice Premier Han Zheng has been quoted as saying he hopes it’s “fake news” that some private hospitals are refusing to treat Covid-19 patients, saying it’s every medic’s duty to save lives.

That’s according to Brave Chan, a local deputy to the National People’s Congress, who met the state leader alongside other local NPC delegates in Beijing on Monday morning.

At an online press conference after the meeting, Chan also quoted Han as saying Beijing had originally aimed to gradually reopen the border from January 9 and 10, but the plan had to be suspended in light of the outbreak in the SAR.

According to Chan, the vice premier also said President Xi Jinping is highly concerned about the “heart-wrenching” Covid situation in the city, and that the central government will give its full support to Hong Kong to combat the epidemic.

Another NPC delegate, Ip Kwok-him, said Han was concerned about the situation of private hospitals amid the pandemic.

“Vice Premier Han Zheng clearly expressed the central government’s concern over the Covid situation [in Hong Kong], and requested NPC delegates and various sectors of the Hong Kong society to unite in the fight against the pandemic,” Ip said.

The vice premier was on Sunday quoted as questioning why private hospitals aren’t helping to treat Covid patients.

The head of the Private Hospitals Association, William Ho, said on Monday private hospitals simply don’t have the ability to handle a large number of Covid infections.

Speaking on a radio show, Ho said there might have been some misunderstanding, as Hong Kong authorities had only asked private hospitals to treat more non-Covid patients – which they had done.

Ho stressed private hospitals’ hands are tied as they simply don’t have sufficient manpower or isolation facilities to deal with Covid cases.

“We also have to handle private hospital patients, and some of our staff are unable to work because they are sick or are close contacts. So we just try our best,” he said.

“We won’t leave patients to die and we will give them treatment, but under these situations, we have to transfer them to isolation wards. My hospital only has six such rooms, and some of them have been used for other patients like those with tuberculosis.”

Ho said private hospitals will reassess their capabilities and consider whether they’re able to offer more help.