Hong Kong pilots denied care by doctors wary of covid sanctions

It’s a tough time to be a pilot, particularly in Hong Kong -- where aircrew already struggling to navigate draconian quarantine rules say some medical clinics are refusing to treat them after recent trips overseas. One Cathay Pacific pilot, after discovering he had high blood pressure, said he couldn’t book a cardiologist for a follow up as he grew increasingly concerned about developing an aneurysm. Another was unable to get his kidney pain checked out because he didn’t meet a clinic’s two-week travel clearance policy. In one case, a child was refused treatment after suffering an accident because the father, a pilot, had traveled for work. For now, Hong Kong requires most travelers to spend 21 days in quarantine upon arrival. Aircrew can leave isolation sooner, which presents a problem for those in need of urgent medical care as private clinics are wary of accepting them in that time frame, even if their Covid tests have come back negative. The predicament for airline workers is another example of the disruption and costs of Hong Kong’s zealous zero-tolerance approach to Covid, which has seen thousands of residents including young children put into isolation camps, people banned from returning home, and even the extermination of hamsters. The perceived risk of quarantine may “discourage some clinics from seeing ‘higher risk’ patients,” David Owens, founding partner of OT&P Healthcare, a leading private medical provider in Hong Kong, wrote in a text message. “‘Higher risk’ doesn’t imply higher clinical risk, but rather individuals who may pose a theoretically higher quarantine risk to others because of their job or travel history,” he said. “They may well be fit and healthy people, such as aircrew or even the family members of aircrew.”<br/>