Hong Kong shortens Covid hospital stays with testing change

HONG KONG (Bloomberg): Hong Kong is accelerating the release of Covid-19 patients from the hospital as the city grapples with a growing number of infections that are taxing its health care facilities.

Patients will soon be discharged if they have two negative tests at least 24 hours apart or three tests that show they are no longer infectious as determined by a cycle threshold or CT count of 33 or higher, Hospital Authority Chief Manager Lau Ka-hin said at a daily briefing on Wednesday (Feb 2). That is a lower standard than the current rules, which have pushed the average hospital stay to 17 days, he said.

The previous strict standards, designed to ensure no one was released when they could potentially spread the virus, kept some people with no symptoms hospitalised for more than a month, with the elderly staying for an average of 20 days.

Once released, patients will be able to complete a 14-day isolation period at home, rather than in a government-run facility, Lau said. An average of 120 people have been hospitalised each day for the past week, he said.

The change comes as the number of infections caused by unknown sources continues to rise, with 30 such unlinked cases reported on Wednesday. There were a total of 116 new infections, including 103 in the local community, and another 110 preliminary positive cases.

"The situation is getting worse,” said Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Communicable Disease Branch of the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health. She added that the government is looking for more space to add quarantine capacity amid an expected increase in cases.

"The cases are spreading quickly and it seems the incubation period is relatively short,” she said, asking for "everyone to work together with us.”

Chuang furthermore pointed to a potential rise in cases following the Lunar New Year period, when families gather for meals, often in large groups.

The change in hospital discharge rules could allow patients to be released five days to a week faster than it currently takes, David Hui, a professor of respiratory medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a member of the city’s Covid advisory panel, told the South China Morning Post. The change may allow patients to be discharged after 10 to 12 days, Hui said.

The new testing requirements will take a few days to implement, Lau said. Between 50 people and 60 people may be discharged once the systems are in place to supervise their release from hospitals, he said.

The speakers detailed the situation of one critically ill unvaccinated senior citizen with underlying conditions. The 77-year-old with chronic ailments including diabetes was admitted to intensive care with heart and lung complications after she was given antiviral medicine and other treatments, the officials said.

Chuang urged Hong Kong’s seniors to get vaccinated, pointing out that the elderly in the city continue to lag younger age groups in their take-up of the vaccine that could help them avoid hospitalisation and death.