The local government has resorted to its old, small policy toolkit of social distancing, travel bans and dissuasion. Given the constraints on Hong Kong’s ability to test its population, it is perhaps a good idea to seek help from the mainland, which has excess capacity.

With a supreme act of political will, China’s fragmented bureaucracy is being marshalled against the coronavirus crisis. But with some officials still unable to speak truth to power, a true reckoning still awaits China’s state machinery.

In mid-July, a legislator's motion on dissolving the Hospital Authority, the statutory body for managing all public hospitals and institutions, stirred widespread debate on Hong Kong's health policies. Although the motion did not succeed in the Legislative Council, heated discussion still goes on.