An isolation ward for Covid-19 patients is being built in Hong Kong on Friday near a bridge connecting the city to Shenzhen in mainland China. Photo… Kin Cheung / Associated Press
Hong Kong is struggling to deal with its worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic, warning that it lacks testing capacity to follow the strict strategy adopted by Beijing.
In Shenzhen and Shanghai on mainland China, officials imposed restrictions on millions of people in the days following localized outbreaks to test every resident. But Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said on Monday that her city doesn’t have that capability.
“Hong Kong is very different from many cities in mainland China, and therefore we have no comparison,” Ms. Lam told reporters at a press conference.
According to Ms. Lam, the difference lies in resources and management systems. Shenzhen and Shanghai can test millions of people a day; Hong Kong health officials can only test between 200,000 and 300,000 people a day.
Hong Kong, one of the last places in the world still trying to get rid of the virus rather than live with it, has reported more than 700,000 cases and 4,066 deaths since the end of January. Hong Kong has averaged more than 280 deaths and 21,000 new cases per day over the past week, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
New registered cases by day
Source: Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. The daily average is calculated based on the data that has been submitted for the last seven days.
It’s a strategy that was dictated by Beijing but seems increasingly out of reach for Hong Kong, which still enjoys freedoms not found on the mainland.
In the Chinese cities of Wuhan and Xi’an, officials suspended daily life and locked residents in their homes for several weeks until local cases subsided. In Tianjin, they began testing every resident after only 20 cases of coronavirus were reported.
Further separating Hong Kong from the mainland’s approach, Ms Lam said she would not consider tightening social distancing measures because she needs to consider how residents treat them.
“I have to consider whether the public will take further action so that we don’t just casually put in place additional distancing measures,” Ms Lam said.
The outburst and Ms Lam’s ability to bring her under control was seen as a test of her leadership, though not defined by ordinary Hong Kongers. The election of the city’s next leader will take place on May 8 and will be decided by an “electoral commission” of more than 1,400 people loyal to the Chinese Communist Party.
Mrs Lam has been under public pressure to set a timeline for mass testing since she first raised the possibility in mid-February.
Fear of a lockdown like Wuhan or Xi’an has prompted residents to empty supermarket shelves and hoard medicine. It has also led to an exodus of expatriates from the city, many of whom are tired of two years of strict pandemic control measures and uncertainty about how and when the city’s restrictions will end.
“If you want us to follow what Shenzhen is doing, which is to introduce mandatory universal testing within three days, I’m afraid we are not able,” Ms. Lam said. “This is the reality we have to face.”
On Monday, Hong Kong International Airport officials announced that passengers from mainland airlines would no longer be able to board a ferry from Shekou Port in Shenzhen to Hong Kong International Airport, suspending service from Tuesday.
Adil Hassan contributed to the report.