Rapid Omicron spread in Hong Kong triggers fear of lockdown

The Monday, Feb. 28, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post continues to report the implications of the rapidly rising number of SARS-CoV-2 infections (mostly the Omicron variant) and deaths in Hong Kong. Feb. 28 saw the highest number of one-day coronavirus infections since the pandemic began (34,466 persons) as well as the highest one-day total of deaths (124 patients).

In response to the rising number of deaths every day, the newspaper also reported on Feb. 28 that:

Hong Kong public hospitals to use refrigerated containers to store bodies “if situation demands” as mortuaries run out of space.

Hospital source says use of refrigerated containers to store bodies is a contingency plan as Covid-19-related deaths have pushed the city’s mortuaries to near full capacity.

Some corpses have remained in the accident and emergency departments for up to a day before being transferred to mortuaries.

Hong Kong recently announced several rounds of citywide mass testing for SARS-CoV-2 to begin in March in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. The potential implications of this mass-testing program, in terms of isolation and quarantine, have resulted in concerns about a large-scale lockdown across Hong Kong:

Long lines of customers formed at supermarkets across Hong Kong on Monday to strip shelves of daily necessities and groceries, while thousands flocked to online shopping portals, panicked by the possibility of a large-scale lockdown to enable universal testing for Covid-19.

The shock waves spread after Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee told a radio programme on Monday morning the government would not rule out the possibility of such a lockdown, citing the need to “reduce the flow of people to a certain extent”.

That was in contrast to Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s statement last Tuesday that the proposed citywide testing would not require a lockdown when it was conducted in March.

Given that the Omicron variant is transmitted faster than any of the many prior versions of SARS-CoV-2, the trajectory of the epidemic now in Hong Kong could portend what might occur in multiple cities on the Chinese mainland in the coming months.