Finally! Someone notices what I’ve been saying for ages. That Hong Kong has handled the Covid-19 crisis the best in the world. I’ve supposed that it’s been ignored because we are China-adjacent and these days China = bad.
Ergo: ignore Hong Kong.
Here are a couple of UK-trained emergency physicians who point out just how well Hong Kong has done. And how the rest of the world, especially the UK, should have learned from our handling of the pandemic.
Sir: Carl Heneghan and Tom Jefferson are right to compare the UK’s Covid-19 response with Hong Kong’s (‘Who cared?’, 6 June). We write as UK-trained emergency physicians, who have worked as specialists in both the UK and Hong Kong. In many ways, the economic and healthcare contexts are similar. The majority of care is delivered at minimal cost to the patient at the point of care; we share similar per capita GDP and human development indices. But we responded very differently to Covid.In Hong Kong, initially all patients with possible Covid were admitted to hospital until they tested negative. No one with suspected Covid was transferred to care homes. Healthcare staff, patients and the public routinely wear surgical masks.In the UK, suspected Covid patients were routinely discharged straight back into the community without testing. Intensive care support was only requested for those requiring high-flow oxygen, which in itself can cause Covid transmission. Provision of PPE has been patchy, even in hospitals.These are of course not the only factors involved. But the truth is that Hong Kong faced Covid several weeks before the UK. Despite having various opportunities to apply similar measures, the UK did not.The UK (population 68 million) has had over 40,000 deaths. Hong Kong (population 7.5 million) has had four. When the next wave comes, lessons must be learned from those who have had better outcomes.
Dr Giles N. Cattermole King’s College Hospital NHS TrustProfessor Colin A. Graham Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong’s success
