Facilities for storing dead bodies at hospitals and public mortuaries in Hong Kong are at maximum capacity due to a record number of Covid-19 fatalities, the Hospital Authority said on Monday, as officials battle to control a surge in cases.
On Monday, the global financial hub reported a daily record high of 34,466 new coronavirus infections and 87 deaths, health authorities said.
Separately, the city's Education Secretary said international schools could maintain their original term dates, after widespread confusion over summer school holidays.
Kevin Yeung said international schools could continue with online classes through March and April, while local schools will take an early break for the summer from March until mid-April.
School campuses are expected to be used by the government in March as authorities roll out compulsory testing of the city's 7.4 million population.
The government has not ruled out a city-wide lockdown during the mass testing period, local broadcaster RTHK reported, citing Health Secretary Sophia Chan. Leader Carrie Lam has previously said she was not considering a city-wide lockdown for the moment.
Empty grocery shelves were seen across several supermarkets in the Chinese-ruled financial hub as residents scooped up essentials in case of a potential lockdown.
The Hospital Authority said the number of patients dying from Covid-19 or serious complications triggered by the cold weather sharply increased over the past two weeks, putting immense pressure on the mortuary service in public hospitals.
Dozens of bodies are waiting in hospital accident and emergency rooms to be transported to mortuaries, said Tony Ling, head of the city's Public Doctors Association.
"These bodies now need extra time to wait for collection because resources are just so tight," due to manpower and storage capacity shortages, he said.
There have been more than 600 coronavirus-linked deaths in Hong Kong since the start of the pandemic in 2020, fewer than in other similar major cities.
However, numbers are climbing daily with around 400 deaths recorded in the past week, with the majority being unvaccinated residents.
Hong Kong has a large proportion of unvaccinated elderly despite a recent pick-up in vaccinations. Many have hesitated to be inoculated due to a fear of side effects and complacency due to the city's success in controlling the virus in 2021.
Around 600 elderly care and disability centres have been infected over the past month, authorities said.
The coronavirus has killed at least 5,969,917 and infected over 436.3 million people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019.
