Hong Kong hospitals hit 90% capacity as COVID-19 cases surge

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong's hospitals reached 90% capacity on Thursday and quarantine facilities were at their limit, authorities said, as the city struggles to snuff out a record number of new COVID-19 cases by adhering to China’s “zero tolerance” strategy.

To ease the strain on the city's healthcare system, officials said they will take a different approach to hospitalization and isolation policies and allow some patients to be discharged sooner. The move comes amid reports of patients being treated on beds outside a hospital in the city’s working-class neighborhood of Sham Shui Po.

Hong Kong reported 6,116 new coronavirus infections on Thursday. Any person in the city who is infected with COVID-19 must be admitted to a hospital or community isolation facility.

Under the new approach, people who are infected but present mild symptoms in hospitals and government-run isolation facilities will be allowed to leave after just seven days if they test negative on the seventh day and do not live with anyone in a high-risk group, such as senior citizens, pregnant women or immunosuppressed people.

Those who do not meet these criteria must complete the full 14-day isolation period or wait until they test negative, according to health officials.

Health experts from mainland China arrived in Hong Kong to help the city raise its testing capabilities and assist with medical resources and facilities. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam welcomed them at the land border with the city of Shenzhen.

“Fighting the pandemic is our paramount task," Lam said. "We will devote every resource and manpower we have. We will impose any measures that we should. The aim is to make sure Hong Kong people’s lives and health are protected and to uphold Hong Kong’s stability.”

Authorities reported 24 new...