Explainer | Coronavirus: what is Hong Kong’s dynamic zero-infection strategy and should city consider ‘mainland-style lockdowns’?
- Hong Kong’s dynamic zero-infection strategy is on a smaller, more targeted scale and does not have a system to track residents’ whereabouts due to privacy concerns
- Government advisers say city does not have enough resources to implement the kind of lockdowns seen in mainland cities such as Xian
However, Hong Kong has yet to carry out massive containment measures such as a citywide lockdown, universal screening or large-scale quarantine, unlike other mainland Chinese cities.
The Post compares the containment approaches taken by some mainland cities and Hong Kong.
1. What is the dynamic zero-infection strategy?
The mainland adopted the strategy in August last year in its fight against the Delta variant.
It refers to a slew of measures, such as mass testing, stringent border controls, extensive contact tracing and snap lockdowns, aimed at swiftly stamping out new outbreaks when they happen.
A national directive issued in September, for example, suggested local health authorities were required to define their scope of testing based on how an outbreak spread and its risks.
Cities with more than 5 million people are required to finish a round of testing within three days, while smaller cities have two days to do the job. Local authorities are required to test large populations by dividing them into smaller units – such as residential buildings, villages, schools and companies – so that no one is missed.