Omicron: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam defends decision to shed mask at certain events, says she needs to let residents ‘feel her emotions’
- Characterising the move as part of her ‘duty as the chief executive’, Lam says a mask would not allow the public ‘to see for themselves’ what she is feeling
- With the city fighting an outbreak of the highly contagious Omicron variant, one expert has said the public should consider wearing two masks to help halt the virus’ spread
Hong Kong’s leader has defended her decision not to wear a mask at press conferences amid a worrying Omicron outbreak, saying her goal in shedding the face covering is to let residents “feel her emotions”.
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said her choice to stop wearing masks during Legislative Council meetings and press conferences – which had sparked angry comments online – was not “incidental”, but instead “well-thought-out behaviour of the chief executive”.
“The people of Hong Kong have to hear very clearly from the chief executive and what messages she is conveying to the public. The people of Hong Kong may even have to feel my emotions,” Lam said when asked about the move during her weekly press briefing on Tuesday.
“Now, I am very sombre, because I am very worried,” she added, arguing a mask would not allow the public “to see for themselves” what she was feeling.
“I am the chief executive of the special administrative region; people need to understand and feel my feelings.”
Lam, who of late has removed her mask every time she speaks to the press at government headquarters, explained that the move was not done out of discomfort.
“I want the people of Hong Kong to understand exactly the situation that Hong Kong is in, and put in their effort to support this important fight against Omicron,” she said. “This is nothing personal, this is really performing my duty as the chief executive.”