- Beijing is finalising plan to mobilise hundreds – if not thousands – of mainland medical personnel to operate temporary facilities in the city, sources say
- Covid-19 crisis continues to escalate, with health officials revealing they recorded more than 17,000 reported infections on Wednesday
Hundreds of medical professionals from mainland China are prepared to treat Covid-19 patients in Hong Kong, the Post has learned, after the local government took the unprecedented step of invoking an emergency law to allow them to work in the city and help battle surging infections that have crippled daily life.
The crisis continues to escalate, with health officials revealing they had recorded more than 17,000 reported infections on Wednesday, including both confirmed and preliminary-positive test results. They could only confirm 8,798 new cases on Thursday because of the backlog of test samples.
Sources said the decision to use the Emergency Regulations Ordinance was taken at a meeting of the chief executive’s de facto cabinet on Wednesday to provide the legal basis for allowing mainland doctors and nurses to practise in a temporary hospital to be built at the Lok Ma Chau Loop near the border, as well as in the city’s few isolation facilities if needed.
