More traditional Chinese medicine experts on their way

A team of Chinese medicine experts from the mainland will be sent to Hong Kong to further push for the use of the traditional medicine in the treatment of Covid patients, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor says.

Speaking at a daily anti-epidemic press conference yesterday, Lam said more than 400 mainland medical staff have so far arrived to support the Covid-19 fight.

They are helping treat Covid patients at the community treatment facilities at Asia World-Expo, says the Hospital Authority.

Lam said: "We have proposed to the central government to send another team of Chinese medicine experts to support the SAR's anti-epidemic work."

The deputy director of Guangdong Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhang Zhongde, is already in the SAR with a team who arrived on March 16, Lam said, adding that more experts will come.

Zhang has been in touch with the Hospital Authority and mainland Chinese medicine experts will provide great help for the SAR's anti-epidemic work.

"We agreed with mainland experts' opinion that using Chinese medicine to fight the Covid-19 suits Hong Kong," Lam said, quoting mainland expert Zhang Baili that Hong Kong should learn from the mainland's experience and further push the use of Chinese medicine in combating the pandemic.

Lam said she had meetings with mainland experts on Wednesday and was told the SAR needs to continue to reduce the severe cases and deaths as the city is still seeing more than 200 deaths a day and the hospitalization rate of elderly patients is high.

"The SAR government is grateful to the mainland experts for their hard work and guidance for Hong Kong. They have shared with us their observations and suggestions to help the SAR fight the virus," Lam said.

The chief executive of the Hospital Authority, Tony Ko Pat-sing, said yesterday all Chinese medicine experts who came to Hong Kong from the mainland are treating patients at Asia World-Expo.

Ko said Chinese medicine is helpful to elderly Covid patients and those with chronic diseases, especially in alleviating symptoms such as constipation, aversion to cold and malaise.

The three anti-epidemic proprietary Chinese medicines - Lianhua Qingwen Jiaonang, Jinhua Qinggan Keli and Huoxiang Zhengqi Pian - are widely used in the mainland to cure Covid-19.

After mainland medics started to work at the Asia World-Expo, the number of patients there has increased from 250 to 360 and it will further increase in the future, Ko said.

The Secretary for Food and Health, Sophia Chan Siu-chee, said yesterday the government has distributed 1.28 million boxes of three proprietary Chinese medicines donated by the mainland to Covid-19 patients, including those in home isolation, which was in the government's package for them.

The government also provides special Chinese medicine consultation services to discharged Covid-19 patients by allowing them to visit doctors 10 times free after recovery, Chan said.

So far, more than 14,000 consultations have been provided for more than 4,850 recovered patients, she said.

Meanwhile, Lam said the citywide mandatory testing may still be launched in the future and the government is preparing for the scheme.

Asked if halting the mass testing scheme would have wasted resources and manpower as the mainland has sent a large group of testing staff to Hong Kong and the city has built more labs for Covid-19 tests, Lam said the testing capacity can be used in places outside Hong Kong, as she noted the mainland may need the testing staff more.

Lam said the authorities will also discuss with the mainland on border reopening when the epidemic situation becomes stable. Before the fifth wave of the outbreak, Hong Kong and the mainland were in the final stage of border reopening talks and the discussion will be restarted immediately after the pandemic is under control, she said.

Hong Kong on Tuesday restarted to issue compulsory testing notices to people who have been to the same venue visited by Covid-19 patients and require them to undergo PCR tests.

Lam said the government earlier suspended the compulsory PCR tests due to manpower shortage because it would become meaningless if test results cannot come out within 48 hours.

As the pandemic situation has become stable, the SAR relaunched the compulsory tests again to detect sources of infections as early as possible.