A funeral parlour in Hong Kong on March 16
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Hong Kong is expected to run out of coffins within days as a new wave of Covid rips through the city, officials have said.
Just 300 coffins remain and are expected to be used up in days, said Kwok Hoi-bong, president of the Funeral Business Association.
Hong Kong has been devastated by the Omicron variant which has caused record numbers of cases and deaths.
According to figures from Our World in Data, daily deaths in Hong Kong rose to 36.94 per million on March 16.
In comparison, the UK reported 2.24 per million on the same day, while daily cases per million in Hong Kong also hit 1,913.73 after reaching a high of 7,523.97 on March 3.
Due to surging Covid cases in Hong Kong, 17.5 million people in the neighbouring Chinese city of Shenzhen have been put under lockdown restrictions.
The lockdown in mainland China has had consequences for the flow of funeral supplies to Hong Kong.
In quotes carried by the Hong Kong Standard, Mr Kwok said: “The 130 coffins ordered some 10 days ago only arrived on Tuesday. It was impossible to catch up with demand.
“We hope that authorities in Hong Kong and the mainland could coordinate to maintain coffin transport by land transport.”
The latest figures have surged past anything Hong Kong experienced during previous waves of Covid in 2020 and 2021.
On March 15, Hong Kong reported a record daily death figure of 289, with experts saying both Hong Kong and China did not prioritise vaccinating the elderly, unlike the UK.
