Hong Kong leaders struggle to control resurgent COVID-19

With the COVID-19 cases rapidly rising, the Hong Kong administration is finding itself unable to manage the pandemic with some fearing the government's failure to get the virus under control has accelerated Beijing's creeping authority over the semi-autonomous territory, media reports said.

On Saturday, Hong Kong registered 7,528 new COVID-19 cases by nucleic acid tests, and 9,069 additional positive cases through self-reported rapid antigen tests, official data showed, as reported by Xinhua. This came after Hong Kong's COVID-19 case count surpassed 1 million on Friday, amid the fifth and the worst wave of the disease.

The policy indecision from Hong Kong's Chief Executive Lam and other officials has appeared to be a reaction to mounting pressure from the mainland. When cases jumped in mid-February and overburdened hospitals began treating patients on gurneys on the sidewalk, Xi Jinping, China's top leader, warned Hong Kong officials to "make controlling the epidemic as soon as possible an overwhelming priority," said a think-tank, Policy Research Group (POREG)

The whole approach of the government has seemed to be chaotic," said Lau Siu-kai, a Hong Kong scholar who advises Beijing.

"You can see all the complaints around Hong Kong these days," he added. "It makes Beijing worried."

Researchers estimate that half of the population in Hong Kong may have already been infected.

Yet when Lam addressed the local press on Monday, she seemed no closer to providing clarity on the city's virus policies. Instead, she appeared to have a message for the Chinese officials who recently locked down millions of citizens in neighbouring Shenzhen after discovering hundreds of coronavirus cases there.

"If you want us to follow what Shenzhen is doing," Lam said, "I'm afraid we are not up to it."

On Thursday, Lam told the media that she would also review many of the city's tough social distancing rules. As she spoke, tall barriers were being erected at public beaches as part of measures she had promised to avoid just days earlier, the report said.

The incompetence displayed by Lam has led to the Chinese mainland authorities extending their foothold in Hong Kong.

China has flooded Hong Kong with what it sees as necessary reinforcements, including donations of traditional Chinese medicine and protective medical gear. Chinese epidemiologists were sent to advise health officials, and more than a thousand technicians and health care workers have been dispatched for testing and patient care.

A temporary bridge has been erected to connect Hong Kong to the Chinese city of Shenzhen in order to move supplies and manpower more quickly. Dozens of construction workers have been sent in to build temporary government quarantine facilities and makeshift hospitals.

"People like Carrie Lam and other Hong Kong officials are always anticipating Beijing's wishes," Willy Lam, an adjunct professor of politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong was quoted by POREG. "Beijing's imprimatur is now more important than local public opinion for many leading Hong Kong officials," he added.

( With inputs from ANI )

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