Ariel step into the room and look at her eldest.
“We both started crying,” she said.
Ariel’s family was caught in the crossfire of Hong Kong’s inflexible but effective pandemic prevention measures at the end of February. Although it has been more than fourteen months since the area identified its first coronavirus case, Hong Kong has shown little sign that it has mitigated numerous restrictions.
Almost all residents arriving in the city have to spend 21 days in hotel quarantine at their own expense. Restaurants close at 22:00 and beaches are closed. Public gatherings are limited to four people.
The area’s track & trace program remains one of the strictest in the world. Everyone tested positive for the virus must go to the hospital, while their close contacts must enter the government’s quarantine facilities for up to 14 days. The government regularly does ambush-style locks and forces entire apartment buildings or blocks to undergo Covid-19 testing.
That approach makes Hong Kong somewhat unique. While many governments are easing restrictions as vaccination rates increase, Hong Kong appears to be doubling its proven methods as it increases its own vaccine management.
From the point of view of public health, there is little argument with the results. According to government figures, this city with more than 7 million people identified only 11,300 cases and 200 deaths. And there were no hard exclusions.
But the lack of flexibility has left parents, like Ariel, in several cases with a heartbreaking decision: go to quarantine and send their children to the hospital alone, or accompany them to the hospital and risk infection themselves.
Ariel joined her sons about a day after their admission after spending hours on the phone trying to navigate the bureaucracy of a major health care system and allay the fears of her crying son.
The scene she came to was not what his or her husband expected when her children were admitted to the hospital a day earlier as symptoms cases. Ariel said they were told their children would be ‘well cared for by the pediatric nurses and doctors there’, who were not tied to their beds.
The nurse told Ariel that the restrictions and diapers are the standard because hospitals do not have the pool to care for every child with Covid-19 and want to limit the risk to staff.
“I understand the protocol,” Ariel said, “but as a parent it is not acceptable.”
Ariel is a pseudonym that CNN agreed to use to protect her family’s privacy. She was reluctant to share her story because of the personal nature of family health care decisions, and said she did not want to sound like she was blaming anyone. She agreed to talk about the matter so that other parents could learn from her situation – and insisted that they not be separated from young children.
The latest group
Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong have been on the rise since an outbreak linked to a luxury gym in the Sai Ying Pun area last week.
The group hit affluent parts of the city, with bankers and teachers among the scores sent to quarantine camps across the area. Many people are housed in rooms up to 18 square meters until they are discharged, including families with small children.
They are allowed meals and deliveries under certain conditions, but several say they are not allowed to leave the room. If this policy is wrong, it can lead to large fines for people and businesses – or even jail time.
There are still dozens since the gym group came up. However, it is unclear whether the increase is because more expatriates – a section of the population who are more likely to complain and speak to foreign media – are forced to endure them.
Carrie Lam, the city’s leader, said on Tuesday that the government “has no policy of deliberately separating children from their parents.”
“But public health concerns need to be respected because they are good for the community at large,” she said.
The Hong Kong Department of Health has not confirmed any of these incidents. An email to CNN states that family members living with positive Covid-19 patients are “treated as close contacts and that they should be quarantined in the quarantine center.”
“For Covid-19 cases involving children, the public hospital will decide under special circumstances whether or not their parents may stay with the children in the hospital,” he said.
“Hong Kong has comprehensive and robust measures to combat Covid-19, which includes quarantine and isolation where necessary, and achieves these measures to stabilize the recent wave of the epidemic to protect the well-being of our community as a whole. Yet we also have wants to emphasize that, in cases where children are involved, every decision has been made in the interest of the children and their families, ”reads the statement.
Many in Hong Kong’s expatriates have expressed concern about the measures. A survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce among 239 members found that most were “concerned or somewhat concerned about the fact that entire school classes are being sent to government quarantine facilities, and that policies are unfair on children’s health.”
More than half said if such action were to become routine, it would play a key role in their decision to stay in Hong Kong. ‘
Although the quarantine strategy has been criticized as overzealous and inhumane – especially for those trapped in small spaces without fresh air for weeks – it is also much appreciated how effective the government has been in keeping the general public safe.
After a slower-than-expected survey, authorities announced on Monday that anyone over the age of 30 – about 80% of the population – could apply for vaccinations.
“It is extremely important that people are vaccinated as early as possible,” a government spokesman said. “We have decided to expand the scope of the priority groups so that more people can be vaccinated as soon as possible to protect yourself and others.”