‘Zero infection’ unlikely in Hong Kong without drastic action to curb fourth wave of coronavirus, experts say
- Beijing has agreed to set aside some vaccine supplies for Hong Kong if needed, Carrie Lam says
- Experts say lack of public support makes it hard to implement lockdown, compulsory testing
Medical experts are doubtful that Hong Kong can achieve zero Covid-19 infections without public support for more drastic measures to control the coronavirus amid the city’s surging fourth wave of the pandemic.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor mentioned that target in her policy address on Wednesday, at a time when Hong Kong has been seeing dozens of new infections daily since late last week.
Turning to the pandemic and health care issues during her speech, she said Beijing had pledged to reserve for Hong Kong Covid-19 vaccines developed or produced on the mainland, if needed, and also spoke of the need to resume cross-border travel.
She said the government might implement “large-scale universal community testing again in a bid to achieve the target of ‘zero infection’ should we have the support and co-operation of the general public”, although she did not define “zero infection”.
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At a press conference later, she said it would be unrealistic to make community testing mandatory, and questioned if Hong Kong could survive a citywide lockdown of four weeks for universal testing to be carried out.
