An elderly disabled woman was found dead at her Tai Wai home last Saturday, where she was left alone after her COVID-infected daughter was admitted to a hospital.
According to Apple Daily, the woman’s daughter, 33, was taken to a hospital on Dec. 9 after her virus result returned positive. Three days later, firefighters found her mother unconscious in her flat.
The 60-year-old woman, who was movement impaired, was waiting to be sent to a quarantine center. She had meals delivered to her home at Mei Lam Estate during the interim, the paper reported.
The cause of her death is believed to have been a fall. According to Apple Daily, she had not taken a COVID-19 test at the time.
In an email reply to Coconuts, the Department of Health said that arrangements of transfer to quarantine centers for close contacts of patients “would be made as soon as practicable” and that a caretaker “should be arranged” to accompany those with special needs.
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The department did not address questions specific to the woman who passed.
Ng Ting-lam, a Tai Wai district councillor, told Apple Daily that there are currently two COVID-19 cases in the elderly woman’s block, including that of her daughter. Residents expressed concern that the woman’s death could also be virus related.
Ng said the elderly woman is understood to have been left uncared for, and that the unfortunate death may not have happened if authorities did not delay her transfer to a quarantine center.
