(TruthandLiberty.com) – As the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19 loses steam in the United States, other countries aren’t so lucky. A surge of virus-related deaths is hitting Hong Kong hard, causing the city to struggle under the toll.
Authorities can’t keep up with the number of people dying. Mortuaries are overflowing, and hospitals have created overflow areas to hold bodies until personnel can transport them. Tony Ling, Public Doctors Association head, said limited resources have resulted in an extreme lack of storage and staffing to move bodies.
Hong Kong facilities for storing dead bodies stretched as COVID deaths climb https://t.co/dO4S8VrbgE pic.twitter.com/sKc0nC3jHz
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 28, 2022
The number of deaths climbs each day. On February 27 alone, the city saw 83 deaths, with 300 total for the prior week.
Unvaccinated people account for the majority of the deaths. Hong Kong struggles with a large unvaccinated elderly population. They are already at a higher risk for death but fear the potential vaccine side effects. Also, the city managed the virus effectively in 2021 with stringent restrictions and rules, so people became complacent.
Of the 171,000 total reported infections during the pandemic, about 160,000 have occurred since the beginning of February with the Omicron variant. Experts estimate the death toll, which is currently at 600, could climb to over 3,000 by mid-May. Chinese President Xi Jinping alerted officials in Hong Kong to prioritize bringing the outbreak under control.
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