Mass testing, panic buying and lockdowns: Omicron overwhelms Hong Kong

The fast-spreading omicron variant is overwhelming Hong Kong, prompting mass testing, quarantines, supermarket panic-buying and a shortage of hospital beds.

Patients in hospital beds wait in a temporary holding area outside Caritas Medical Centre in Hong Kong, March 2, 2022.

As the global death toll from the coronavirus topped 6 million this week, the semi-autonomous Chinese city has been recording about 150 deaths per day, giving it the world's highest death rate per 1 million people, according to the Our World in Data website.

Workers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, move a corpse from the mortuary to the coffin van at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong, March 2, 2022.

More than 2,000 people have died in less than three months in Hong Kong since Dec. 31.

People wearing face masks queue up to buy vegetables as residents worry about a shortage of fresh food, at a market in Hong Kong, March 1, 2022.

By comparison, the city of 7.4 million people had lost just 213 people to COVID-19 previously.

Patients in hospital beds wait in a temporary holding area outside Caritas Medical Centre in Hong Kong, March 2, 2022.

A low vaccination rate, particularly among the elderly, is one of the key factors in the latest surge.

A woman walks past empty shelves and freezers as residents concerned with possible shortages stock up on food at a supermarket in Hong Kong, March 4, 2022.

An analysis of the first 1,153 fatal cases in the current wave showed just 8% had received two doses of a vaccine.

A woman and children wearing face masks and shields walk on a street in Hong Kong, March 4, 2022.

About 78% of the population has received two doses, compared to 92% in Singapore, and more than 80% in Japan, Canada and mainland China.

People wearing face masks purchase COVID-19 antigen test kits at a market in Hong Kong, March 5, 2022.

The vaccination rates for children and those 70 years old and above are much lower.

Health workers transfer corpses from refrigerated containers to a hearse in an empty lot near a funeral home in Hong Kong, March 7, 2022.

While not quite as rigid, Hong Kong's approach largely mirrors the strict “zero-COVID" policy in the mainland.

A woman pushes a grocery cart across a street after buying rice and other supplies as residents worry about a shortage of food and supplies in Hong Kong, March 3, 2022.

The central government in mainland China has sent in experts and is helping build both temporary isolation facilities and testing areas.

A man wearing a face mask gets a bag of rice at a grocery cart next to empty-looking shelves for rice after residents concerned with possible shortages stock up on food, at a supermarket Hong Kong, March 6, 2022.

An advisory group led by Liang Wannian, the head of a mainland China COVID-19 task force, has been visiting community vaccination centers and the fire and ambulance service training academy to exchange views.

Residents queue up to get tested for the coronavirus at a temporary testing center for COVID-19 in Hong Kong, Feb. 24, 2022.

China has also sent mobile labs to handle the volume of tests anticipated in a planned citywide testing of the population this month.

A boy cries after receiving a dose of China's Sinovac COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at a community vaccination center in Hong Kong, Feb. 25, 2022.

Residents queue up to get tested for the coronavirus at a temporary testing center for COVID-19 in Hong Kong, Feb. 24, 2022.

A woman receives materials from a worker at an isolation unit at the Penny's Bay Quarantine Centre on Lantau Island, in Hong Kong, Feb. 24, 2022.

An aerial view shows the isolation units at the Penny's Bay Quarantine Centre on Lantau Island, in Hong Kong, Feb. 24, 2022.

A worker walks at the isolation units in the Penny's Bay Quarantine Centre on Lantau Island, in Hong Kong, Feb. 24, 2022.

A woman does exercise next to facilities being cordoned off for the social distancing law at a park in Hong Kong, Feb. 27, 2022.

A boy receives a dose of China's Sinovac COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at a community vaccination center in Hong Kong, Feb. 25, 2022.

Patients in hospital beds wait at the temporary holding area outside Caritas Medical Centre in Hong Kong, Feb. 28, 2022.