The division of labour between Hong Kong and imported mainland Chinese medics at the city’s Covid-19 treatment centres has “consensus,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said. Her comments came after a viral photo of a document appeared to show an “aversive” list of duties assigned to mainland nurses.
The Hong Kong leader said on Friday that “outsiders” should not comment on how work was distributed among medical professionals in Hong Kong and those who arrived from China to help combat the fifth and worst wave of Covid-19.
Lam said the Hospital Authority and the team from the mainland had agreed to adopt a “collaborative mode” in allowing local and mainland medics to work together at the city’s community treatment centres in light of the seriously overloaded public hospitals.
“During this collaborative process, of course it would involve some division of labour. Some of the work division was agreed by the two teams – I don’t think it should be evaluated by outsiders who simply looked at a piece of paper,” Lam said during her daily Covid-19 press briefing.
The paper Lam was referring to was a document which appeared to show what nurses from Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority and their mainland counterparts were assigned to do. A photo of the document was shared on Chinese social networking site Weibo, and was later widely circulated online.
According to the document, mainland nurses had to help patients change their diapers, measure their urine volume and empty their urine bags. They were also responsible for assisting the patients in changing their lying position and feeding them, as well as conducting blood sugar tests and measuring the patient’s vitals.
A Weibo user who shared the document criticised the Hong Kong authorities as deploying mainland nurses as care workers and underestimating their abilities. Some people also commented that the work undertaken by nurses from across the border was more “aversive,” saying it represented “disrespect” towards the cohort.
Lam on Friday praised the professionalism of mainland medics, saying many had left their families to serve Hongkongers and were very experienced in fighting against the pandemic. The medical teams would identify their strengths to see how they could help the city the most, she added.
‘Far-fetched’
On Friday, Lam was also asked to respond to criticism fired at a NowTV reporter by Beijing-backed newspaper Ta Kung Pao, which claimed the journalist had triggered “public anger” by asking the authorities about the complaint mechanism in the event of any medical mishap involving mainland personnel.
The chief executive said the incident was not a matter of press freedom as she urged people not to make the issue “political.”
“I feel it is a bit far-fetched to relate this single incident to the freedom of the press in Hong Kong,” Lam said in response to HKFP’s question at the press conference.
The city’s leader went on to say it was “not easy” for mainland medics to come to Hong Kong, adding their working conditions at makeshift hospitals were “not satisfactory.”
“So why do we want to make all this fuss and make divisive comments between the Hong Kong medical personnel and the mainland medical personnel?” she asked.
Broadcaster NowTV apologised to the public on Thursday for causing public concern and discontent with the question, adding they were “extremely thankful” to the Central Government’s “selfless support.”
The Hong Kong Journalists Association, on the other hand, defended the question as “reasonable.”
As of Friday, Hong Kong has seen over a million cases of Covid-19 and over 5,000 deaths.
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