Resuming quarantine-free travel with mainland China to be top priority, Hong Kong’s incoming health minister says
- Dr Lo Chung-mau says he intends to draw up anti-pandemic measures rooted in evidence to reconnect Hong Kong with mainland China and the wider world
- But he emphasises not all mainland policies can be immediately copied by Hong Kong and a need exists to look at all the information
Quarantine-free travel to mainland China will be a priority, the new Secretary for Health has promised.
But Dr Lo Chung-mau emphasised any policy changes would be based on science.
He added Hong Kong should not necessarily follow the mainland and carry out universal testing and that not all mainland policies could be immediately copied.
Lo said that there was a need to look at all the available information and engage with other departments.
Lo said: “Every place has their own policies taking into account their respective situations.
“We need to look at data, as well as coordination with departments, so I’m not going to say all mainland policies can be applied in Hong Kong instantly. We need time to look into it before we make a decision.”
He added: “Opening the border with the mainland and the rest of the world is a livelihood and economic issue and also an issue that impacts different families. We will do our best.”
He was speaking as the team assembled by Chief Executive-designate John Lee Ka-chiu was announced by the State Council last Sunday.
Lo said he planned to draw up anti-pandemic measures to reconnect Hong Kong with the mainland and the rest of the world, improve the quantity and quality of public and private healthcare and boost innovation in the Greater Bay Area through the development of biomedical sciences and scientific talent.
He added: “We should formulate scientific, effective and precise measures to achieve the greatest outcome at the least cost.”
Lo, the director of the Liver Transplantation Centre at Queen Mary Hospital, is an international expert in hepatobiliary surgery, liver cancer and liver transplants and also head of the University of Hong Kong - Shenzhen Hospital.
Hong Kong leader rules out reopening border with mainland China any time soon
Medical and health services lawmaker David Lam Tzit-yuen welcomed the appointment.
He said: “Professor Lo is a very senior surgeon and well respected within our profession.
“He is well-versed with the medical system across the border, and I believe he will be instrumental in amalgamating the medical system on both sides.”
Lam added he hoped the new minister would tackle other major needs in the medical sector, including a greater use of telemedicine and the co-development of Chinese and Western medicine.
He said: “I look forward to cooperating with Professor Lo in all these aspects in the next few years.”
