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Xi to Hong Kong: Controlling COVID situation

A record number of new covid-19 cases have been reported daily from Hong Kong since last week. The development puts a lot of pressure on healthcare, and calls into question the zero-tolerance policy so hard.

The latest outbreak has been traced to employees at Cathay Pacific who broke isolation rules and instead went to restaurants and bars, according to reports. CNN.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced on Friday that anti-epidemic measures will be strengthened. Among other things, mandatory testing is planned for the city’s 7.3 million residents.

Target zero injured

China is one of the few countries that has zero tolerance for covid-19 with its rapid lockdown strategy and long-range infection tracking. But on Tuesday, Carrie Lam announced she had no plans to lock down Hong Kong this time around.

– We have absolutely no plans to introduce mass lockdown, she said, but at the same time she indicated that the target remains infection-free.

We must continue to fight in this battle against the epidemic. She said that giving in to the virus is not an option.

Calling something to work

The next day, Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed concern about the outbreak in Hong Kong and called on authorities to take all necessary measures to protect public health, Hong Kong’s pro-regime newspaper Wen Wei Po reported.

According to the same newspaper, Deputy Prime Minister Han Zheng declared in Beijing that the Hong Kong government “should bear the primary responsibility and regard rapid stabilization and epidemic control as the primary task” of Carrie Lam, according to the AP news agency.

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The Beijing Liaison Office in Hong Kong said Xi’s statement injected “strong positive energy” into the city.

Carrie Lam responded in a press release expressing “gratitude” and saying her Hong Kong government is taking responsibility following Xi’s “important instructions,” AFP writes.

10,000 hotel rooms

Carrie Lam said on Friday that the election of a new leader for Hong Kong, which had been scheduled for the end of March, is now postponed.

The decision is due to the fact that Hong Kong is facing the most dangerous situation since the epidemic began two years ago. This is the critical situation.

The nomination period for the post will begin on Sunday, after which the successor will be chosen by a small pro-Beijing committee.

Last week, all residents of an entire residential area in Hong Kong were ordered to test themselves when authorities found traces of the COVID-19 virus in sewers.

Hong Kong’s zero-tolerance policy has meant that everyone who tests positive for COVID-19 has been quarantined in hospital, regardless of the degree of symptoms. But with the new proliferation of omicrons, buildings have become inadequate, and thus 10,000 hotel rooms and many newly constructed apartment buildings have been made quarantine homes, according to reports. Watchman.

‘feel hopeless’

The calligraphy is now being criticized by Hong Kong residents.

The cause of chaos in our society today is this policy. 70-year-old Daisy Ho told the Associated Press that the government’s regulatory capacity has made people in Hong Kong feel hopeless.

According to official statistics – which are difficult to assess given the country is a tightly governed dictatorship – the spread of infection is still under control in mainland China.

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Facts: Hong Kong

Hong Kong was under the control of the United Kingdom until 1997. With the handover to China, which was done according to the “one country, two systems” formula, the Beijing regime promised to preserve democratic freedoms and rights by 2047.

But in recent years, the Chinese regime has consolidated its hold on Hong Kong, which previously enjoyed relative independence from mainland China.