Letters | ‘Dynamic zero Covid’ strategy in Hong Kong requires many sacrifices, but is worth pursuing

Readers praise the efforts of young people to protect the city’s most vulnerable during the pandemic, urge the government to do more to boost vaccination rates, and suggest how social gatherings could resume

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Commuters in Hong Kong’s Central district on January 27. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 11:30am, 3 Mar 2022

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Every day it seems that the international media is blasting Hong Kong’s Covid-19 policy with headlines such as “Hong Kong risks everything with ‘impossible’ Covid-zero goal”, “Hong Kong Covid isolation could last to 2024, Euro chamber says” and “Hong Kong departures climb to pandemic high as residents flee”. While “dynamic zero-Covid” may ultimately prove to be an elusive goal, we, on behalf of Hong Kong’s elderly, young children and vulnerable population, say, thank you for trying and thank you for your sacrifice.

The latest estimates from the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Medicine show that the daily number of infections and hospitalisations will peak at around 182,923 and 2,893, respectively. The cumulative number of deaths by mid-May is likely to be around 3,206.

Odds are the people dying will be the elderly and young children, rather than the healthy 20-65 year-old population. Maybe the dead will include your grandparents or a friend’s newborn baby. Perhaps some will have existing health conditions causing vaccine hesitancy, further complicating matters.

The number of projected deaths and hospitalisations means that the best approach for Hong Kong remains the dynamic zero-Covid strategy.

The costs of this approach are high, especially in today’s Hong Kong. We are being asked to put our dreams, relationships and livelihoods on hold while we tackle the pandemic. To the young and industrious people of Hong Kong, who are less likely to fall ill from Covid-19, thank you for your sacrifice.