Opinion | Has ‘Commander’ Carrie Lam finally got a grip on Hong Kong’s Covid-19 war?

Thank you, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, for taking charge of the messaging and hosting daily press conferences. Standing by your fellow citizens and putting on a surgical mask is not merely a show of solidarity. Realising that everything isn’t about you, or your feelings, is a good thing.

It was peculiar and uncharacteristic of Lam that she virtually disappeared from view for two weeks during the city’s most critical public health crisis. In a press conference on February 22, Lam declared war on Covid-19. But then she didn’t appear in any major press conference, only re-emerging on March 9, when she continued to deploy war metaphors, calling herself the commander-in-chief in the battle against Covid-19.

But more significantly, she admitted that Professor Liang Wannian, head of the National Health Commission’s Covid-19 leading task force, had identified “shortcomings” in the government’s response, sugarcoated as a lack of synergy and being unable to centralise treatments and resources for patients in a serious condition. There were failures at all levels: from failing to prioritise life over processes and red tape to failures of execution.

We failed so badly that President Xi Jinping had to break from the Winter Olympics and send our city’s administrators a really harsh message. Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Xia Baolong has called on Hong Kong authorities to live up to their oath and take concrete action. Vice-Premier Han Zheng said all government departments should take strong and decisive measures to lower the death rate.

And don’t forget all the voices at home, calling for action and clarity, warning the administration that people feel that they have been left to their own devices.