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#WuhanPneumonia #FailedState
"It took us more than an hour to find help": Son Recounts Losing his Father to COVID-19, after Numerous Hospitals Turned Them Away

Mr. Chan's father became unwell on the night of February 26. At first, he needed help to walk to the bathroom; soon, his condition worsened, and he threw up several times.

Mr Chan called the 999 emergency hotline for his father, but the call did not go through.

He knew that the emergency units at Kwong Wah Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, two hospitals near the Chans' home in Kowloon, had been fully occupied for days. After considering his options, Chan decided to seek treatment for his father at St. Teresa's Hospital, a private hospital.

The elderly Chan was found to have a slight fever when he arrived at St Teresa's Hospital, and he was immediately turned away. Instead of admitting the elderly man for medical treatment, Chan and his father were given a list of private hospitals that have signed up for COVID-19 patients. They were asked to leave and find their own medical assistance.

It was a cold evening, with temperature dropping to around 10⁰C. Chan called every hospital on the list, but their efforts were in vain.

Frustrated, Mr Chan took his father all the way to Hong Kong Island, to the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital (HKSH).

There, rapid testing confirmed that his father was infected with COVID-19. Thus, HKSH also turned them away.

Feeling helpless and at a loss of what to do, Mr Chan called the emergency line again. After many more dropped calls, Chan eventually was connected to emergency services, and was diverted to the Ambulance command centre of the Fire Department.

Yet, after waiting on the line for 20 minutes, Mr Chan was told that no Ambulance service was available.

Totally disappointed in public services, Mr Chan took his father to the Queen Mary Hospital by taxi.

After arriving at Queen Mary Hospital, Chan explained his father's condition to the nurses in painstaking detail. Only that they were asked to wait another 45 minutes before a doctor's consultation.

Mr. Chan told reporters, "it took us more than an hour to find out where to take my father for emergency medical treatment. It was painful to watch my father vomiting dozens of times. I am totally disappointed. There is no guideline of how to handle these serious medical cases."

3 days later, Chan's father passed away. Whenever Chan recalled the agony of watching his father suffer with no doctor to be found, he couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Why did I even bring him to the hospital?" he said, still in grief for his father's death. "I wish we stayed home, so he could die in peace."

Source: HK01; #Mar10
#Oppression #InformationFatique #QuitNews
Information fatigue and news avoidance are impacting Hong Kong people's mental well-being: Psychiatrists

#Lockdown #WFH #WuhanPneumonia #MentalHealth

Source: I-Cable News

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#Oppression #InformationFatique #QuitNews
Information fatigue and news avoidance are impacting Hong Kong people's mental well-being: Psychiatrists

Every day, people in Hong Kong are bombarded by an outpour of news broadcasts. As many contents of these news are frenetically negative, citizens started evading news. Graduates of journalism, on the other hand, have become disillusioned with their future career.

Psychiatrists advised that getting away from these negative emotions is necessary to avoid causing mental disorders.

Among the 30 people interviewed by i-Cable News, the majority said they get by their spare time by watching TV dramas or barely "do nothing". While no one chose to cook, only two said they read news.

Ms Chan, one of the interviewees, commented, "There is no good news, especially during this period of time, there is a lot of pressure, and it seems that Hong Kong is trapped."

Another interviewee, Mr Hui mentioned, "Hong Kong is under a lot of pressure due to COVID-19. People don't want to pay attention to these news in their own time or on holiday."

Ms Kwok said, "there are too many negative news, I don't want to be dispirited by negative information."

Not only the general public wants to get away from news, a former journalist have also quited her job.

A journalism graduate, Algy explained, "I read only news titles as I don't feel like reading into details. Even when I am avoiding news, I still feel the growing negative ambience around me."

In late 2021, the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong surveyed among 1,066 respondents. Across all age segments disregarding their political stance, the growth in people quitting news is apparent.

Those who quitted newspapers have grown from 11.2% in 2020 to 23.6% in 2021. Those quitted TV news also increased from 13.2% (2020) to 18.8% (2021).

Most of the respondents claimed that the ongoing political conflict, the growing sense of helplessness after pro-democracy Anti-ELAB movement and information fatigue as reasons to quit reading / watching news. Experts call such phenomenon as #NewsAvoidance.

In the meantime, psychiatrists in Hong Kong also found growing cases in mental illness due to negative news contents in recent couple of years.

A psychiatrist said, "when people relates a news piece to themselves, e.g. the death toll of COVID-19, they are saddened and distressed. Such feel could linger for hours or couple of weeks."

An organisation specialised in psychological counseling said that about 70-80% of recent requests for help is related to epidemic news.

The organisation reminds the public to look after their mental well-being, and look out for symptoms like insomnia, poor appetite and sweaty palms. They are advised to seek professional assistance when needed.

#Lockdown #WFH #WuhanPneumonia #MentalHealth

Source: I-Cable News
http://cablenews.i-cable.com/ci/news/article/37/796250?utm_source=hk.iott.app&utm_campaign=share&ts=1646544444012
#Oppression #PressFreedom
Now news ‘deeply sorry’ over reporter’s question to HK leader about complaint mechanism for Chinese medical staff from China

#WuhanPneumonia #FreedomOfSpeech #RuleByFear #GratitudeEducation

Source: Inmediahk; #Mar17

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#PressFreedom #Accountability
Now news ‘deeply sorry’ over reporter’s question to HK leader about complaint mechanism for medical staff from China

As the government waived registration requirements for mainland Chinese medics coming to Hong Kong to help treat COVID patients, questions of medical accountability begun to surface. During Carrie Lam's daily pandemic briefing on March 16, a #NowTV reporter asked about the process by which a patient could lodge a complaint, in case of a medical mishap while being treated by a mainland medic.

The question, however, was not well received by the government and the pro-Beijing camp in Hong Kong.

While Carrie Lam stressed a sense of gratitude for China should come first, former chief executive Leung Chun-ying lashed out at the reporter on Facebook, questioning if "her brain had a problem, or her morals had a problem".

Other pro-Beijing groups went on to describe the reporter's question as "unprofessional" and "spreading hate speech."

Politihk Social Strategic, a group of pro-Beijing activists formed to support former CE Leung, claimed that the NowTV reporter had triggered “public anger” with her question.

The group posted photos of the female reporter online, and called for an online petition condemning her conduct as unprofessional and a possible violation of the #NationalSecurityLaw.

Owing to public pressure, the TV station issued a statement of apology on the same day.

“We are deeply sorry that the question about mainland medics at yesterday’s Covid-19 press briefing caused concern and discontent among citizens,” the statement read. “The fifth-wave outbreak is still severe, and we are extremely thankful to the central government and the mainland’s selfless support.”

The Hong Kong Journalists Association (#HKJA) expressed regret for Now TV's apology, as well as concern that such attacks on a journalist's question would exacerbate the self-censorship among editorial staff. The association noted that a similar question was posed by pro-Beijing LegCo member Tang Fei on March 15, the day before the press conference.

The association stressed the journalistic value of posing these questions at press conferences, as it gives officials an opportunity to explain their policies to the public. Furthermore, the question received informative replies, showing that government officials also recognized the question's value. The association hopes that the public could better understand the workings of journalism, and would view the work of reporters without political preconceptions.

#WuhanPneumonia #RuleByFear #GratitudeEducation

Source: Inmediahk; #Mar17
https://bit.ly/3IiqAh0
#WuhanPneumonia #RuleByFear
Hong Kong police arrests two Covid-positive men for ‘inciting others’ to spread virus on social media posts

Two men have been arrested after they allegedly used the internet to incite others to spread the Covid-19 virus.

Screenshots shown by police at the briefing indicated that the 22-year-old allegedly posted a photo of a positive rapid antigen test result to Facebook, along with a caption asking for recommendations of pro-government eateries in Yuen Long.

Other excerpts taken from the popular LIHKG forum showed a user making claims that “there would be a major outbreak in Hong Kong and in the mainland.” The content was partially censored during the police briefing.

Source: Inmediahk; #Mar15
https://bit.ly/3tZOj0o
Two Covid-positive men arrested in Hong Kong for ‘inciting others’ to spread virus on social media

In Hong Kong, two men have been arrested after they allegedly use social media to incite others to spread the Covid-19 virus.

Screenshots shown by the police at the briefing indicated that the 22-year-old allegedly posted a photo of a positive rapid antigen test result to Facebook, along with a caption asking for recommendations of pro-government eateries in Yuen Long.

Other excerpts taken from the popular LIHKG forum showed the user making claims that “there would be a major outbreak in Hong Kong and in the mainland.” The content was partially censored during the police briefing.

The police used the government-developed #LeaveHomeSafe mobile application to track the past location of the men.

Source: Inmediahk; #Mar15
https://bit.ly/3tZOj0o

#Covid19 #WuhanPneumonia #Pandemic #Arrest
#ChineseVaccine
Hong Kong's immunised who died of #Covid19 mainly got #Sinovac vaccine: Media

//Almost 87 per cent of Hong Kongers who died from Covid-19 after getting at least one dose of vaccine received China-made Sinovac Biotech Ltd's shot, Ming Pao reported, though most deaths occurred among those who weren't immunised.

Most deaths in Hong Kong have occurred among under-vaccinated senior citizens, particularly those living in elderly care homes.

There have been more than 5,400 fatalities in the latest Omicron-driven outbreak, making the city's death per capita the world's highest.//

Read the full article:
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/hong-kongs-immunised-who-died-of-covid-19-mainly-got-sinovac-vaccine-media

Source: Bloomberg; Strait Times; Mingpao #Mar20

#Omicron #Pandemic #5thWave #Death #Vaccination #WuhanPneumonia
#Pandemic
#China locks down millions more as #Covid19 spreads, reports first deaths in over a year

//More than 4,000 new infections were reported across China on Sunday, March 20, 2022 — with two-thirds in #Jilin province, which borders Russia and North Korea.

Since March 11, Changchun’s nine million people have only been allowed out once every two days to buy food.

Tens of millions of people are currently in lockdown in other Chinese regions and authorities are scrambling to create hospital beds, fearing the outbreak could put the healthcare system under strain.//

Read the full article:
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/03/20/china-locks-down-millions-more-as-covid-spreads-reports-first-deaths-in-over-a-year/

Source: AFP; Hong Kong Free Press #Mar20

#WuhanPneumonia #Lockdown
#Shanghai starts China's biggest #COVID19 lockdown in 2 years; residents call it "insane"

Although Chinese officials said lockdown would not be imposed on #Shanghai, two days later the authorities announced that the city will be locked down in two stages from Monday, March 28, 2022 onwards for nine days.

According to BBC, this is the biggest city-wide #lockdown since the Covid outbreak began more than two years ago.

Soon after the government's announcement was out, panic buying occured in various parts of Shanghai.

Videos on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, showed people fighting in supermarket over produce. Some Chinese netizens commented that it was "unbelievable that they are looking at 21st-Century Shanghai" and that the policy was "insane".

Source: InMedia; BBC #Mar28
https://bit.ly/380pPwx

#WuhanPneumonia #ChineseStyle #Lockdown #Pandemic #Regime