The Doctor Will See You Now [Non-Fiction]

Chapter 86: The COVID Series

There was a reason why our chief executive Carrie Lam announced the waiving of mainlanders' hospital fees. It's to encourage more mainlanders to seek medical attention when sick instead of hiding it.

We have had cases, both confirmed nCOV cases and scares, where the patients lied about their travel history.

On admission to A+E, the patient denies travel to mainland China or to Wuhan, even when asked specifically. They pass the triage nurse in A+E. The A+E doctor also asks; the patient maintains their answer.

When the patient arrives onto the ward, the ward nurses ask the same thing; same reply.

When the ward doctor admits the patient and grills the patient, the patient lets slip: they actually had travelled to Wuhan. And they have a cough, phlegm, and a fever. Most of these cases are mainlanders. They didn't tell anyone their travel history because if they did, they would be treated as a high-risk potential nCoV and be put into isolation where they cannot sign themselves out against medical advice and cannot have any visitors.

Every patient they sat near in A+E, the triage nurse, the A+E doctor, the porter that pushed the patient onto the ward, the ward nurses, every patient sitting near or passing by the patient on their way up to the ward and to their ward bed, have been exposed to the virus.

The latent period of this virus is 7-14 days. Because of this, every single exposed person has to be isolated for 7-14 days.

Now, imagine if the patient didn't tell anyone this for days.

Every patient, every visitor, every healthcare worker (and their families) have potentially been exposed.

At airports, people have posted witnessing travellers using all sorts of methods to con the fever detectors: forehead coolants, popping paracetamol / acetominophen at every opportunity. Because if they're caught feverish at the borders, they get forced into isolation in hospitals where they have to pay large hospital fees.

Now imagine this evasion tactic as the norm for the hundreds of thousands of mainlanders coming into HK daily.

I personally have had two separate, newly admitted patients in the past three days who denied any travel out of HK only to confess once they have arrived onto our ward. Both of them are mainlanders.

I am fed up. I can't keep myself, my colleagues, my family safe. I am forced to treat these lying patients who have no qualms putting everyone at risk for their own selfish gains. And the chief executive and our government are entirely impotent in managing this outbreak. They tell us to press on, to do our duties, to fulfil our Hippocratic oath; all the while, hundreds of thousands of potentially infected mainlanders are still flocking in and spreading diseases. This is unsustainable.

The current data shows mortality for nCoV is 15%. We could die from these selfish people.

By the way, if I die, according to my contract my family gets 1 year of my salary as compensation. That's it. The monetary worth of my life is one year of salary.

Earlier this week, Carrie Lam announced the government will suspend issuing further travel permits for mainlanders to come to HK for business or pleasure.
- But the previously issued permits will still be functional.
- And she won't ban the mainlanders for claiming they come to HK to visit family (which is a reason that never gets followed-up, so anyone can use it)

She also says the health declaration at the border, which does not get checked (i.e. if you lie, nobody will catch you doing so -- and it's obvious a lot of mainlanders have no issue lying) is enough to vet who is sick passing through out border.

Thanks. Thanks a fecking lot.