Hong Kong leader to update public daily on Covid-19 work until ‘battle is won’
- Carrie Lam revamps approach in communicating latest developments to residents following warnings from Beijing to step up efforts to contain health crisis
- As ‘commander-in-chief’ of battle against Omicron outbreak, she says it’s her job to deliver ‘authoritative answers to public’
“I believe all of you do not want to see me that often,” Lam said on Wednesday, adding that the sooner she faded from the public eye, the earlier the city could “resume normal life”.
She made the remarks in a morning press conference, wearing a mask for the first time since shedding it for months in an earlier bid to let residents “feel her emotions” during speeches.
Hong Kong has been battling a fifth wave of coronavirus infections that has taken the lives of 2,656 people since it emerged nearly three months ago. On Wednesday, the city confirmed 58,757 new cases, including 32,766 residents who declared their infections through a new online portal after using rapid tests.
Authorities are under mounting pressure to curb the high death toll, especially among the elderly, with critics accusing officials of unclear messaging on policy.
Dr Liang Wannian, leader of the Covid-19 Response Expert Team of the National Health Commission who is helping to guide local anti-pandemic strategy, called on the city leadership last Friday “to strengthen cooperation and execution between departments” over crisis management.
Hong Kong reports 58,757 new coronavirus cases and 291 deaths
At Wednesday’s briefing, Lam said as “commander-in-chief” of the city’s battle against the Omicron outbreak, she shouldered the responsibility to explain the latest developments and clarify rumours on a daily basis.
“I am aware that certain recent issues have gone beyond the responsibility of the Centre for Health Protection, such as the arrangement of the compulsory universal testing. I hope that this conference can clarify rumours and provide a more authoritative answer to the public,” she said.
The new daily briefings will be held at 11am except on Tuesday when Lam helms the weekly meetings with her de-facto cabinet. The usual Covid-19 conference hosted by health officials at 4.30pm will still be in place.
Flanked by principal officials on Wednesday, Lam announced a raft of measures to curb infections, including reserving all beds in Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Covid-19 patients.
Uncertainty over a lockdown on top of a planned mass testing drive had over the pass week triggered panic among residents, with buyers wiping out stocks of medicine and daily necessities from supermarket shelves.
57 per cent of Hong Kong workers lost pay after contracting Covid: survey
In an unusually critical letter to Lam on March 1, businessman Allan Zeman said that “so many conflicting messages” over the government’s Covid-19 strategy had left the public confused and nervous.
The chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Group told an online talk show on Wednesday that Lam replied to him in a “long message” and promised to “look into something”.
“I really respect her because she took all my points basically, hopefully she will do whatever she can to make it work,” he said.
On Wednesday, Lam was again asked to clarify if the mass testing would proceed later this month as expected.
She stopped short of giving an exact time frame, but conceded it was no longer a priority, with the focus now on reducing deaths among the elderly.
Lam also stressed it was meaningless to debate about whether the city was pursuing a new strategy to “live with the virus”, maintaining that its “dynamic zero” stance was in line with the mainland’s.
“What I can reassure you 100 per cent on is that the Hong Kong government is not adopting a so-called lying flat attitude to handle the epidemic,” she said.
She added that careful planning was under way to ensure people’s normal lives would not be disrupted when the mass screening kicked in.
Additional reporting by Tiffany Liang
