While many in the West consider the pandemic to be in the final throes, Hong Kong is currently battling an omicron variant surge that has clogged the hospitals with desperate patients, seen here on March 4.

A visit to three public hospitals in Hong Kong showed that the infections by omicron kept the public hospitals under pressure. Patients were left outdoors at the United Christian hospital, the main hospital of Kwun Tong, in Eastern Kowloon. At Queen Elisabeth hospital, patients kept flooding in while incoming patients were also waiting in a makeshift triage center under tents.

The low vaccination rate among Hong Kong's elderly population has driven Hong Kong’s death rate to the highest in the world.

Hong Kong's seven-day rolling average of confirmed COVID-19 deaths as of March 6 was 25.5 per 1 million people. This is more than five times that of the US.

A visit to three public hospitals in Hong Kong showed that the infections by omicron kept the public hospitals under pressure. Patients were left outdoors at the United Christian hospital, the main hospital of Kwun Tong, in Eastern Kowloon. At Queen Elisabeth hospital, patients kept flooding in while incoming patients were also waiting in a makeshift triage center under tents.

The Caritas Medical Centre in Hong Kong, infamous for being the first one where patients were left outdoors showed a completely different face this evening, with basically no patients wait in makeshift triage centers.