How zero-Covid Hong Kong can re-emerge as Asia’s world city

Given our reliance as an entire society on trade and a sound economy, one of the best ways to move forward is to raise our vaccination rate to 90 per cent
Unlike their peers in the rest of the world, Cathay aircrew have had to spend countless nights locked up overseas and in Hong Kong in quarantine

Bernard Chan

Published: 6:45am, 14 Jan 2022

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Yin and yang. Yes and no. Night and day. That is how different Hong Kong’s zero-Covid policy is from the rest of the world’s.

I have received a multitude of complaints from those who need to travel overseas for business, have children studying elsewhere or have family members who need to travel to Hong Kong.

They all question the rationale behind the lengthy 21-day quarantine for travellers from 149 countries, especially if they have been fully vaccinated. This group believes that a virus cannot be contained indefinitely, so Hong Kong should learn to live with Covid-19 like the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, some doctors are calling for Hong Kong to further tighten social distancing measures due to the recent Omicron outbreak and to remove any quarantine reduction or exemption for flight crew.

Many members of the general public want the government to uphold quarantine controls for inbound passengers with a view to stopping the virus from penetrating Hong Kong.

It’s as if there are two completely different universes or realities. One group wants a relaxation of Covid-19 measures and the other group wants more restrictions.

The rest of the world has more or less decided to live with the coronavirus, using vaccines to cope with the pandemic. In most countries, including the United States, if you are sick or test positive, you self-isolate at home to recover. Only if you have severe symptoms or trouble breathing do you seek hospital care. Covid-19 testing is optional and there is no contact tracing.

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Whereas in Hong Kong, once you test positive for Covid-19, you are immediately sent to a public hospital even if you are asymptomatic. You have to remain there for at least 10 days until testing negative twice in succession. After that, it’s another 14 days at the government quarantine centre.

Linking these alternate universes are airlines and cargo operators. Hong Kong’s economy is externally oriented and highly dependent on trade with the rest of the world. In 2020, Hong Kong was the world’s sixth-largest trading entity. We rely on imports for our most basic needs, and import over 90 per cent of our food.

However, many international airlines have either cut or suspended flights to Hong Kong because of mandatory crew testing and stringent quarantine.

Finding it unviable to operate in this challenging environment, FedEx permanently shut down its 180-strong Hong Kong pilot base in November. United Airlines and British Airways have also shuttered their cabin crew bases here.

Who knew a ‘dim sum ban’ was all it would take to get elderly vaccinated?

Caught in the crosshairs of Hong Kong’s zero-Covid policy and onerous quarantine requirements is our flagship carrier Cathay Pacific. With most of its aircrew locally based, Cathay cannot simply transit Hong Kong and turn around to its home base to escape quarantine, as other global airlines do.

As a result, Cathay’s cargo and passenger capacities have suffered and are now reduced to 20 per cent and 2 per cent of pre-pandemic levels respectively.

Without the constraints of ever-changing rules of quarantine, Cathay’s competitors have largely returned to normality.

I can certainly appreciate that many people are upset with the few individual members of Cathay’s crew who breached their medical surveillance protocol, leading to the latest surge in Covid-19 cases and subsequent restriction on dining in restaurants after 6pm.

Perhaps we should also acknowledge the thousands of Cathay pilots and cabin crew who observe protocol and continue to fly to high-risk destinations, keeping Hong Kong connected to the outside world. Unlike their global counterparts, they have had to spend countless nights locked up overseas and in Hong Kong in quarantine.

Now that the more transmissible variant has led to the recent outbreak, we need to further tighten exemptions given to aircrew.

But how can Hong Kong continue to be Asia’s world city?

Given our reliance as an entire society on trade and a sound economy, one of the best ways for us to move forward is to increase our vaccination rate to 90 per cent. Without a much higher rate among the elderly, we risk paralysing our health care system as and when we try to close the gap with the rest of the world.

Bernard Chan is convenor of Hong Kong’s Executive Council