Hong Kong police are once again on the front lines, this time to ensure health and social regulations are being followed to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Even as they play this pivotal role, they are carrying out traditional duties of law enforcement, while remaining alert to potential trouble from continuing protests. Responsibility for such varied duties requires careful deployment of resources and special training, and officers have to avoid infection. Juggling such jobs is challenging, but if done right, the city can be kept safe and there is every chance for the force to mend fractured community relations.

After a week of giving verbal warnings to people not observing strict rules limiting groups in public to four, police on Sunday began issuing HK$2,000 penalties to offenders, the first being six chess players in Kwai Chung. Officers are at risk of infection as they carry out their duties. A sergeant deployed to handle a protest at Prince Edward station last week has been confirmed as having the infection, as has been a constable attached to the same unit who had gone to a bar in Tsim Sha Tsui that had been linked to a cluster of cases. Nearly all 130 members of the team have been quarantined for two weeks.

Hongkongers critical of police conduct during months of civil unrest are likely to be little concerned about such matters. The latest Gallup opinion poll showed that in the wake of sometimes violent protests since June in which more than 7,000 people were arrested, residents’ confidence in the force fell in 2019 to 43 per cent, down from 80 per cent in 2017. A planned budget increase of 24.7 per cent over the previous financial year to HK$25.8 billion to boost strength by 2,543 personnel and purchase more crowd control gear has angered pan-democratic lawmakers.