“Our crematoriums are working day and night, and they are already close to their capacity,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a briefing on Wednesday. “Within such a short period of time, we have seen so many deaths, and that would affect the logistics of funeral matters.”

The city’s health-care system has buckled under the weight of the outbreak, which has seen deaths exceed 4,630 — mostly elderly, unvaccinated, and care-home residents. The surge has already forced Hong Kong to start using mobile refrigerated units to store bodies after public mortuaries were overwhelmed.

Meanwhile, local media last week reported cases of body bags left next to hospital patients’ beds, prompting an apology from health officials who said measures had been put in place to speed up the transfer of bodies.