HONGKONG: A Nepali national, 21, staying at a government quarantine center with his family when he was confirmed infected, but officials wrongly transferred his father to the hospital.
A Nepali in a Hong Kong quarantine center who tested positive for COVID-19 was denied prompt hospital care after officials instead sent his father for treatment owing to a possible mix-up of their “similar” names, health authorities admitted.
A Nepali 21, was staying at a government quarantine center with his family when he was confirmed infected, but officials wrongly transferred his father to hospital on Monday night.
Wong said he suspected the mistake was the result of some foreign names “looking similar to us”.
“Were the names read wrongly, or were the father or the son heard wrongly?” he said. “This will require investigation.”
Authorities did not suspect the mix-up involved errors in handling laboratory samples and had apologized to the family, SCMP reported.
The mistake was revealed by Dr Wong Ka-hing, controller of the Centre for Health Protection, as the city reported 21 more people were infected with the disease, including 12 with a history of recent travel, taking the total to 935.
Authorities sent letters to private doctors on Monday night urging them to carry out COVID-19 testing for patients, regardless of the severity of symptoms or whether they had recently traveled. “We hope private doctors could step up testing for their patients.”
When asked whether interpreters would be used when dealing with people who did not speak the local language, Wong said officials could manage but would seek extra support if needed. He noted that education materials in different languages were available for ethnic minorities.
(with inputs from Agencies)
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