My Take | The zero-Covid strategy bought Hong Kong time that was not used well
- The speed at which the Omicron-driven crisis developed and its scale have caught the city by surprise. Everyone is asking: How could Hong Kong be so ill-prepared?
When Covid-19 began to make its grim progress around the world in early 2020, Hong Kong looked on with alarm. Health systems were overwhelmed and death tolls mounted.
The city, scarred by the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak in 2003, fared better. Masks were widely worn from the start and social-distancing rules observed. We lamented the slow response in other places which did not appear to understand the danger.
Hong Kong was spared the terrible scenes witnessed elsewhere, quickly overcoming each outbreak. This was done with a zero-Covid approach, involving rapid testing, tracing and isolation. A strict quarantine regime for travellers kept the virus out of the community.
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the city’s leader, hailed the strategy in the Legislative Council on January 12, with a slew of statistics to show Hong Kong was a world leader in tackling Covid-19. But even as she spoke, the Omicron variant was spreading.
Hong Kong quickly went from self-congratulation to crisis. Last week’s events were harrowing. Case numbers have risen dramatically. People are dying. It is heartbreaking that young children are among the victims.
Hospitals have been overwhelmed. The need for patients, many of them elderly, to lie outside in cold weather for as long as three days before admission is shocking. We never thought we would see this in Hong Kong.