HKSAR Government organises appreciation and farewell ceremony for Mainland medical support team
5.5.2022

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government today (May 5) organised an appreciation and farewell ceremony for the last batch of departing Mainland medical support team. The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam; the Deputy Director of Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR, Mr He Jing; the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan; and the Chairman of the Hospital Authority (HA), Mr Henry Fan, attended. At the request of the SAR Government, the Central People's Government and the Guangdong Provincial Government arranged the medical support team to come to Hong Kong earlier to assist in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, supporting the SAR in fighting the unprecedentedly severe epidemic situation during the fifth wave. The medical team comprises 391 healthcare professionals from different disciplines in 25 mainland medical institutions. During their stay in Hong Kong, the Mainland medical support team worked closely with healthcare team of the HA to enhance admission capacity of the Treatment Centre for COVID-19 (AsiaWorld-Expo) within a short period of time. This allowed more COVID-19 patients in need to receive appropriate treatment and accelerated the overall patient turnover, which in turn assisted the SAR Government to fully implement the multi-tiered triage and treatment strategy. The Mainland medical support team also worked with the HA team to promote deep integration of Chinese and Western medicine. Apart from jointly assessing the condition of patients, both Chinese and Western medical teams worked together on duty to discuss, formulate and provide integrated Chinese and Western medical treatment, so as to formulate appropriate treatment plans for patients. This has greatly improved the quality of care. More than 1 200 COVID-19 patients recovered under their care and were discharged. Furthermore, both teams exchanged experience on clinical care, application of Chinese and Western medicine, rehabilitation treatment, etc, which laid down a more solid foundation for deepening medical co-operation between Hong Kong and the Mainland. Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs Lam said that members of the Mainland medical support team put aside their duties and left their families and friends in March to join the frontline of treating patients when the epidemic situation in the SAR was at its worst. This fully embodies the selfless spirit of "when trouble occurs at one spot, help comes from all quarters" and compatriotism. Mrs Lam expressed the most heartfelt gratitude to the Mainland medical support team on behalf of the SAR. With the full support of the Central People's Government and the Mainland medical support team, as well as the co-operation of various sectors of the society, the fifth wave of the epidemic in the SAR has seen a continuous decline and come under control since it reached its peak in March. Hong Kong citizens are gradually resuming normal activities and the admission of new COVID-19 patients to the medical system has also enhanced. Also, the Treatment Centre for COVID-19 (AsiaWorld-Expo) turned to standby mode starting from yesterday (May 4). "We will never take the situation lightly. We will endeavor to make the best of our experience gained in fighting against the epidemic alongside with the Mainland support team and fully implement the strategy of 'preventing the importation of cases and the resurgence of domestic infections', in order to fight and win this battle against the epidemic," Mrs Lam stressed. Following the departure of the Mainland medical support team, the Regal Airport Hotel will be converted back to a designated quarantine hotel (DQH) on May 10, providing an addition of around 1 000 rooms. The Government will update regularly the list of DQHs and their booking status on the thematic website www.designatedhotel.gov.hk . Ends/Thursday, May 5, 2022 Issued at HKT 21:04 NNNN