Letters | Hong Kong needs the political will to end Covid-19 control measures

Readers discuss why it’s time to drop pandemic restrictions, the need for Hong Kong to open to the world, using the Hong Kong identity card as vaccination proof, confusing guidance from the police chief, and criticism of a plus-sized woman on the mainland

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Cleaners disinfect a nightclub in Lan Kwai Fong following an outbreak of Covid-19 on May 28. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 11:30am, 13 Jun 2022

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In March, there were 9,511 deaths registered in Hong Kong. This was twice the 4,580 expected deaths. There were 7,081 deaths of people who had tested positive for Covid-19; this is 74 per cent of all deaths in March.

Each death is a tragedy, and our thoughts are with the families of those who died.

Fortunately, Covid-19 deaths have fallen rapidly from the March high. In April, there were 1,483 deaths of people who had tested positive for Covid-19; this is 35 per cent of 4,190 deaths expected for the month, according to my estimate. Despite the legal requirement to notify the Deaths Registry of a death within 24 hours, the data on registered deaths in April will not be available until mid-June. It is reasonable to assume that excess deaths will be around 1,000 for April.

The very good news in May was that the deaths of individuals who tested positive for Covid-19 numbered 70. This is just 2 per cent of the expected deaths of 4,170, by my estimate.

In my opinion, Hong Kong has met the key conditions for the end of the pandemic. There are now no statistically significant excess deaths. Feedback from the medical profession is that the healthcare system is functioning.