Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form . Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification. Although it is not yet time to declare victory over the fifth wave of coronavirus, it is never too early to formulate medium and long-term strategies for future waves. As a medium-term solution, a more effective contact-tracing app is required. Despite the requirement of scanning “Leave Home Safe” when dining in restaurants, the lack of automatic data transfer meant it took the Department of Health more than a week to trace close contacts after an infected flight attended visited a Chinese restaurant. The government missed a golden opportunity to cut transmission links. The origin of the fifth wave has exposed the inappropriateness of valuing personal privacy above public health and human lives. Learning from this painful lesson, a more effective app should have automatic GPS tracking. Users should have SIM cards registered with real names. Similar to the mainland’s health code, people who have had contact with confirmed cases should be denied entry to indoor premises until they can present a negative test result. Second, closer monitoring and more penalties are needed for rule-breakers. Despite the launch of the vaccine pass in late February, in my experience, very few people scan the code before entering designated premises, especially shopping malls. During the Tomb Sweeping Festival, I saw a good number of hikers along a trail in Kam Shan Country Park not wearing masks. Implementation is not simply an act of announcing a policy, but also an obligation to ensure it is enacted effectively. The government should press ahead with its promise to sue Cathay Pacific for arranging for its flight attendants to come back to the city on cargo flights, which consequently led to the fifth wave. Third, private-public hospital collaboration should be standardised. Whenever there’s an outbreak, private hospitals can immediately manage a considerable number of non-Covid-19 patients and relieve the pressure on public hospitals. A list of voluntary and retired medical staff, whether local or mainland Chinese, should also be drawn up so that the government can deploy them immediately to handle a tsunami of infections in the future. Finally, in the long run, a regular vaccination schedule could be set out. In response to the ever-mutating virus and waning protection of vaccines, people may have to be inoculated from time to time. A clear timetable could save the health authorities a lot more approval time than the current dose-by-dose approach. The fifth wave has demonstrated the unpreparedness of the government for a major outbreak. With the epidemic now waning, we should seize the chance to formulate a realistic road map to fix the current flaws and introduce effective measures. Alison Ng, Olympic We need backup if our mainland supply link breaks Hong Kong needs to arrange for food to be supplied by neighbouring Asian countries just in case Guangdong goes into lockdown . Food security is very important for the city and we cannot be fully reliant on China for this matter because major cities across the country are facing similar constraints. We cannot add to the pressure on the central government in this regard. The battle of Covid and lockdown is never ending and always evolving. In drastic times we need to take drastic measures, and it’s important to secure food supplies before a supply shock occurs. Until China is back to normal, we have a very delicate road ahead of us. So the government needs to step up and plan for all outcomes. Rishi Teckchandani, Mid-Levels More selective hiring needed at children’s home I refer to “Overhaul at scandal-hit children’s home in Hong Kong to ensure ‘no more abuse’” ( April 11 ). The report mentioned several new policies to rebuild the children’s home, such as increasing the ratio of carers to residents, and reducing the heavy workload of the staff. They seem good on paper. Yet, they may only be a Band-Aid solution. I strongly believe that to prevent child abuse, the home should focus on hiring the right people in the first place: candidates who show passion in taking care of abandoned children. Taking care of children requires sympathy and kindheartedness, not to mention that caring for a child who has been abandoned or experienced family issues is never an easy job. Massive amounts of time are needed to comfort these children, play with them, answer their questions and so on. Besides, carers in such settings need to look after two or more youngsters at a time over long periods. If a person does not have the right personality, they might end up feeling anger or hatred towards a child, which can lead to abuse. Some might have applied for the job only considering the salary but not knowing the responsibilities. The situation must be rectified before the overhaul. Interviewers should be sensitive to the personality of each applicant. Perhaps interacting with children should be included in the interview to observe an applicant’s character. Kitty Ku, Kwai Chung To appease central government, change faces I refer to “Keanu Reeves films removed from Chinese video sites after Tibet” ( March 25 ). Perhaps studios should digitise the faces of lead actors in films so that they can be replaced with other faces if the actor falls out of favour with the Chinese government. Perhaps in the future, green-screen technology will be used not only for backgrounds but also for the faces of actors. Different faces could be used in different markets to satisfy local leaders. Bruce Couchman, Ottawa, Canada