Help us help you:
Fighting COVID-19
with you

• Our “COVID-19 Response Team”, comprising hospital management and experts in the infectious disease and infection control, meets on a weekly basis to ensure the effective formulation and implementation of relevant policies and measures and that these are appropriate to the latest situation.   
• The team also reviews and advises on emerging risks such that the hospital can act quickly to changing circumstances.

• Access control and screening
  • Our access policy follows the Government’s latest travel restrictions and quarantine arrangements
  • All persons are required to receive temperature and travel history screening at the designated entrances and observe personal hygiene measures such as wearing of surgical masks before entering the hospital
  • All patients and visitors entering our outpatient clinics and 24-hr Outpatient & Emergency (24-hr OED) undergo full FTOCC screening (Fever, Travel, Occupation, Contact and Clustering)
  • To protect low-risk patients from higher-risks groups, our 24-hr OED is sectioned into different zones to manage patients of different risk levels
  • We also minimise risks to our inpatients and staff by adopting prudent screening of transfer cases from other hospitals, which may include pre-admission testing      
      
• Facilities and hygiene measures
  • All public facilities are thoroughly cleansed and disinfected on an ongoing basis
  • All rooms are two-bedded or single-bedded, offering safe distancing and comfort for all
  • Surgical masks and hand santitisers are provided to patients, visitors and doctors who need them for use in the hospital   

• Screening and monitoring
  • Our staff go through the same screening procedure as with patients and visitors before entering hospital
  • We monitor staff sickness and travel history on a daily basis to help us identify early any possible risks
  • Various staff arrangement policies, eg home isolation, are in place to help us make sure that   

• Protective supplies
  • All frontline, back-office and offsite staff are required to wear surgical masks at work
  • Where appropriate to the nature of their duties, staff are provided with proper full protective gear such that they can take care of patients safely
     
• Handling of high-risk procedures
  • In general, we have suspended high-risk clinical procedures that may pose infection risk to patients or staff. In situations when such is necessary, these are performed in isolation (negative pressure) rooms only

According to information provided by the Mainland health authorities, symptoms of the cases include fever, malaise, dry cough and shortness of breath. 

No. The symptoms of COVID-19 are similar in children and adults. However, children with confirmed COVID-19 have generally presented with mild symptoms. Reported symptoms in children include cold-like symptoms, such as fever, runny nose, and cough. Vomiting and diarrhea have also been reported. It’s not known yet whether some children may be at higher risk for severe illness, for example, children with underlying medical conditions and special healthcare needs. There is much more to be learned about how the disease impacts children.

The main mode of transmission of COVID-19 is through respiratory droplets, and the virus can also be transmitted through contact.

Current information suggests that the incubation period ranges from 1 to 12.5 days, but can be as long as 14 days.

Yes, the COVID-19 causes respiratory disease and can be transmitted from person to person, usually after close contact with an infected patient.

According to the current scientific knowledge, there is no evidence indicating that human can be infected by the COVID-19 via food. However, World Health Organization recommends that people should always observe personal, food and environmental hygiene to ensure food safety.

You should restrict contact with pets and other animals while you are sick with COVID-19, just like you would around other people. It is still recommended that people sick with COVID-19 limit contact with animals until more information is known about the virus. When possible, have another member of your household care for your animals while you are sick. If you are sick with COVID-19, avoid contact with your pet, including petting, snuggling, being kissed or licked, and sharing food. If you must care for your pet or be around animals while you are sick, wash your hands before and after you interact with pets and wear a facemask.

Understanding the time when infected patients may spread the virus to others is critical for control efforts. Detailed medical information from people infected is needed to determine the infectious period of COVID-19. According to recent reports, it may be possible that people infected with COVID-19 may be infectious before showing significant symptoms.  However, based on currently available data, the people who have symptoms are causing the majority of virus spread.

A study found that coronaviruses typically survive longer and stay active longer at lower temperatures in a dry environment.

It is not certain how long the virus that causes COVID-19 survives on surfaces, but it seems to behave like other coronaviruses. Studies suggest that coronaviruses (including preliminary information on the COVID-19 virus) may persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days. This may vary under different conditions (e.g. type of surface, temperature or humidity of the environment).

If you think a surface may be infected, clean it with simple disinfectant to kill the virus and protect yourself and others. Clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, or nose.

When people sneeze or cough, they may spray big droplets but the droplets do not stay suspended in the air for long. They fall. Health care procedures like intubation can spray small droplets into the air. Bigger droplets fall quickly. Smaller ones fall less quickly.

We know about environmental contamination for MERS-CoV and finding RNA in air filtration systems (but not the live virus). However, for the new coronavirus, we still need to see the data and understand how transmission has been assessed.

While we still need to learn more about how COVID-19 affects people, thus far, older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as diabetes and heart disease) appear to be more at risk of developing severe disease.

A People of all ages can be infected by the COVID-19. Older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus. People of all ages are advised to take steps to protect themselves from the virus by following good hand hygiene and good respiratory hygiene.

Choose the appropriate mask size. Child size is available for selection as indicated:

• Face mask (including surgical masks and cloth face coverings) is not recommended for children under the age of 2 years without supervision;
    
• For newborns and young children under 2, there would be a chance of suffocation or other health risks if face mask is not properly used. In addition, young children like to touch or pull the mask on their face which increase the chance of infection;
   
• Parents are advised to let infants and young children stay at home as much as possible and avoid bringing them to unnecessary social gathering or playgrounds. If there is a need to go out, choose less crowded places and remember to keep the social distance between children and other people, and avoid touching things around;
   
• Caretaker should ensure their own hygiene before handling young children. Keep your hands clean and wear mask when feeding your baby.

• Perform hand hygiene properly and frequently, especially before touching eyes, nose and mouth;
• Maintain respiratory etiquette and cough manners;
• Stay at home if got sick and minimise contact with others;
• Stay away from possible sources of infection;
• Minimise unnecessary social contacts and avoid visiting crowded places; and
• Avoid close contact with the infected persons.

The following measures ARE NOT effective against COVID-2019 and can be harmful:

• Smoking
• Taking traditional herbal remedies
• Wearing multiple masks
• Taking self-medication such as antibiotics

If your hands are not visibly soiled, you can use 70 to 80% alcohol-based handrub. Use sufficient amount, around 3 to 5 ml of alcohol-based handrub to cover all surfaces of your hands and rub your palms, then back of hands, finger webs, back of fingers, thumbs, finger tips, and then wrists for at least 20 seconds until your hands are dry. Let the alcohol dry on your hands, do not wipe it off with paper towel.

U-traps serve to stop foul smells and unhygienic substances including bacteria and viruses in the drainage system from entering living areas. Defective or dried U-traps could negate this important function. Pour half a litre of water into each drain outlet every week. You should also regularly inspect your drainage pipes, U-traps and sanitary fittings and arrange immediate repair if damage is found. 

No, spraying alcohol or chlorine all over your body will not kill viruses that have already entered your body, but spraying such substances can be harmful to clothes or mucous membranes (i.e. eyes, mouth). 

No, vaccines against pneumonia do not provide protection against the COVID-19. The virus is so new and different that it needs its own vaccine. Researchers are trying to develop a vaccine against COVID-19. 

To date, there is no specific medicine recommended to prevent or treat the new coronavirus COVID-19. However, those infected with the virus should receive appropriate care to relieve and treat symptoms, and those with severe illness should receive optimised supportive care. Some specific treatments are under investigation, and will be tested through clinical trials. 

Ozone irritates the eyes and respiratory tract. It can cause serious damage to the lung if inhaled in high concentrations.

If used at concentrations that do not exceed public health standards, ozone applied to indoor air does not effectively remove viruses, bacteria, mold, or other biological pollutants.

The risk of acquiring the novel coronavirus through food packaging is very low. In fact, contaminated hands play a significant role in facilitating indirect contact transmission by transferring the infectious virus from one surface to another and even into one’s body. Instead of food packaging, transmission is more likely to happen in contact with certain high-touch points, such as door handles, handles of the shopping trolleys and water taps – the more frequently being touched by different people the higher the risk that it becomes contaminated. Therefore, while some people may still opt to disinfect food packaging surfaces with common household disinfectants such as alcohol-based wipes or sprays if needed, it is more important for people to wash their hands thoroughly, especially before touching eyes, nose and mouth, after returning home from grocery shopping, and after handling and storing purchased products.