Why Hong Kong is in the middle of an Omicron ‘onslaught’
Government’s zero-Covid plan faces ‘critical test’ as record infections overwhelm city
The government in Hong Kong is to begin prioritising hospital isolation space for children, older people and those with serious Covid-19 complications as a wave of infections threatens to swamp the city’s healthcare facilities.
“Recent days have seen record daily highs of more than 2,000 cases,” The Guardian reported, with experts warning that “the outbreak could reach about 30,000 a day”. The sudden spike has already meant “hospitals, testing facilities, and isolation centres have been swamped”, with pictures emerging “of spillover tents set up in hospital car parks”.
Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said the city was in the midst of a Covid “onslaught”, warning that the fifth wave of the virus has “outgrown our capacity” while stating that there are currently “no plans whatsoever” for a widespread lockdown.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Omicron surge
The new spike in infections is being driven by the Omicron variant and has put the government’s “zero Covid” plan under its most “critical test” since the pandemic began, the Financial Times (FT) reported.
The approach, which is also in effect in mainland China, “has been credited with saving lives and preventing the collapse of hospital systems seen elsewhere”. And while it is “unpopular with many expatriates because of travel restrictions, it allowed much of the city’s population to live pre-pandemic lifestyles for most of last year”.
But the rising tide of infections “has raised questions over the strategy’s sustainability”, the paper said, prompting Lam to declare on Friday that “the government will not give up. We will continue to do our best to achieve zero Covid”.
The reality on the ground is that Hong Kong is now having to decide whether to “live with Covid or lock down”, said Fortune. As it stands, officials have chosen to “do a bit of both”, but the record outbreak “has breached Hong Kong’s Covid defences” and may end up forcing “the city to rethink its response system”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The city recorded eight Covid deaths last week, the first since September, while estimates put together by researchers at the University of Hong Kong have suggested that this fresh wave could kill more than 950 people by mid-June.
Such a sudden increase in cases prompted the introduction of Hong Kong’s “toughest social distancing measures to date” last week, The New York Times (NYT) said, “temporarily closing salons and houses of worship, and adding malls and grocery stores to a long list of public places that will require vaccination to enter”.
Officials also “met with a representative of China’s central government in the mainland city of Shenzhen”, the paper added. The meeting covered “the need to send mainland personnel to help increase testing capacity, but the details have yet to be determined”.
About-turn
While the increase in infections has seen tough social distancing restrictions reintroduced, the sudden spike has “ironically” forced the government to “reluctantly ease some of its strictest policies because it is running out of facilities to house patients and close contacts of those infected”, the FT said.
“International visitors arriving in Hong Kong or local residents who test positive for Covid are normally placed in isolation in hospital for a minimum of 10 days.”
But “with hospital and quarantine facilities under pressure from the latest outbreak, the government last week relaxed its extremely rigorous polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing requirement for patients to leave hospital”, the paper reported.
The city is also experiencing “shortages of some vegetables that are imported from mainland China”, the NYT said. China is the source of more than 90% of the Hong Kong food supply. After “some truck drivers tested positive”, authorities in China ordered “a road junction for mainland and Hong Kong drivers to be closed for disinfection”, the paper added. Hong Kong authorities warned that it would impact supplies of “vegetables and chilled poultry”.
Critics of a zero Covid approach have described the strategy as a “dangerous dead end”, warning that most countries have ditched the plan and are relying on jabs and infection-acquired immunity to protect people.
But in countries where zero Covid has been the plan since day one, for example China, low levels of herd immunity mean that reopening is fraught with danger.
Lam has publicly suggested that there will be no about-turn in Hong Kong’s pandemic response, stating that “it is not an option to surrender to the virus”.
“The outbreak is unlikely to deter the authorities from pursuing zero Covid”, the FT predicted. And the influence of China would likely make such a change of approach impossible even if there were the political will among Hong Kong’s leaders.
China’s state-run news agency has repeatedly warned that Hong Kong shifting its strategy will “jeopardise the city’s economy and public health, and delay a long-awaited reopening of its border with the mainland for ordinary travellers”, the paper said.
The threat means Hongkongers should probably not hold their breath about a change of approach.
-
7 beautiful towns to visit in Switzerland during the holidays
The Week Recommends Find bliss in these charming Swiss locales that blend the traditional with the modern
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
The Week contest: Werewolf bill
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
'This needs to be a bigger deal'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Did the Covid virus leak from a lab?
The Explainer Once dismissed as a conspiracy theory, the idea that Covid-19 originated in a virology lab in Wuhan now has many adherents
By The Week UK Published
-
Putin's fixation with shamans
Under the Radar Secretive Russian leader, said to be fascinated with occult and pagan rituals, allegedly asked for blessing over nuclear weapons
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Chimpanzees are dying of human diseases
Under the radar Great apes are vulnerable to human pathogens thanks to genetic similarity, increased contact and no immunity
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 24 February - 1 March
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will mounting discontent affect Iran election?
Today's Big Question Low turnout is expected in poll seen as crucial test for Tehran's leadership
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published