The Health Bureau said today that as of January 6, 69 of the 79 patients admitted to Hospital Authority (HA) hospitals following November’s fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po had recovered and been discharged, while the remaining 10 were in a stable condition.

All individuals injured in the fire and admitted to public hospitals will receive full fee waivers for all necessary healthcare services throughout the entire process of their treatment and rehabilitation, the bureau added.

All residents of the eight blocks at Wang Fuk Court, including foreign domestic helpers, are eligible for full medical fee waivers until December 31 of this year. As of January 6, the HA had provided such services to around 1,700 affected residents.

Separately, last month the bureau introduced a free family doctor service scheme, free Chinese Medicine (CM) consultation services and free denture replacement services.

As of January 6, more than 300 private family doctors were participating and free consultations had been arranged for 78 affected residents.

Meanwhile, more than 360 CM practitioners were participating, with CM services having been arranged for 30 residents.

Regarding free denture replacement services, more than 100 private dentists are participating, with free services having been arranged for 23 residents.

District Health Centres/District Health Centre Expresses across all of the city’s 18 districts have set up hotlines to provide personalised case management services for affected residents.

Support includes matching residents with free medical consultation services, and co-ordinating follow-up appointments with the HA. As of January 6, the hotlines had received 265 enquiries.

Regarding mental health services, the bureau said that from the time of the Tai Po blaze to January 6, the 18111 Mental Health Support Hotline had received over 12,800 calls, around 700 of which were related to the fire. An associated WhatsApp service has handled over 600 messages, with about 50 of these concerning the fire.

The HA’s 24-hour Mental Health Direct hotline had received 94 calls related to the blaze, with 34 of these coming from affected citizens.