HK To Continue Its Measures Against Covid: Carrie Lam

Chief Executive Carrie Lam says Hong Kong will continue to guard against the importation of Covid-19 cases and avoid a resurgence of local infections, as it prepares to reopen its border with the mainland.

In an article published on Thursday, Lam explained that maintaining this Covid strategy can "achieve the greatest anti-epidemic effect at the smallest cost while minimising the impact of the epidemic on Hong Kong's social and economic development".

Even though coronavirus cases in Hong Kong have continued to drop, the CE urged the public not to let their guard down, saying the global Covid situation shows no sign of abating and Hong Kong still has hundreds of cases each day.

Lam added that with the support of the central authorities, her administration will continue to push for an orderly return to normality, while reinvigorating the SAR's integral role as a bridge connecting the mainland to the rest of the world.

In the same article, Lam also looked back at her administration's recent anti-epidemic efforts.

Pointing to the fact that over 90 percent of deaths reported in the current wave involved people aged 65 or above, she said authorities have prioritised support and strengthened protections for the elderly, after learning from what she described as a "painful experience".

Lam said a three-day voluntary self-test exercise earlier this month was met with a favourable response from the public.

"The exercise has largely achieved its three objectives, namely having a better grasp of the local infection situation, identifying in the community more silent transmission chains to arrange for those infected appropriate isolation and treatment, and enabling the public to familiarise themselves with the use of RATs (rapid antigen tests) so as to raise their anti-epidemic awareness," she wrote.