By Farah Master

HONG KONG (Reuters – Hong Kong was one of top countries for COVID-19 control in less than 2 months.

There have been a lot of deaths, overflowing morgues, and a decline in confidence in city government.

Although the government continues to adhere to the “zero-COVID” policy, which is similar in principle to China’s mainland China, Carrie Lam the mayor of Carrie said Thursday that she may ease restrictions due to concerns about the city’s global financial hub status.

However, with cases of infection spreading onto the mainland, and the number of local cases rising to around 30,000 per person in a country with a population just 7.4million, experts believe that there should be a plan to get rid.

Densely populated Hong Kong has registered the most deaths per million people globally in recent weeks – more than 24 times that of rival Singapore – due to a large proportion of elderly who were unvaccinated as the highly transmissible Omicron variant ripped through care homes since February.

Experts believe that the tragedy could have been prevented if authorities had offered incentives to get vaccinated and utilized medical resources better in preparation for COVID-19. It was discovered in Wuhan, central China, in late 2019.

“The disaster unfolding within our hospital system is predictable, preventable and political,” said Dr David Owens, a founder of OT&P clinics and an honorary clinical assistant professor in family medicine at the University of Hong Kong.

Lam’s administration has repeatedly been criticized by pro Beijing media and politicians. These criticisms were made just weeks before Lam is scheduled to stand for election May 8th to elect the new leader of the territory.

Residents and businesses are dissatisfied by the inconsistent messaging and policies of the government. These messages have severely disrupted the economy and caused major disruptions in the business sector over the last two years.

Tens to thousands are now gone, showing net exodus numbers of more than 45,000 so far in March. That’s compared to nearly 17,000 people in December prior the fifth wave. The situation raises fears about Hong Kong’s ability for long-term competition.

COVID: LIVING WITH CONFIDENCE

Lam is yet to provide guidance on how Hong Kong will regain some normality. This is despite her daily briefings in which she talks about details, from sewage testing and thanking the mainland authorities for their assistance. In 1997, the former British colony was returned to Chinese control.

“Hong Kong was certainly not ready when we entered into the fifth wave as evidently shown, but let’s see whether we can get better prepared for that eventuality of that transition towards normality,” said Gabriel Leung, University of Hong Kong’s dean of medicine and a government adviser on the pandemic.

Leung indicated that Hong Kong had to make a decision about whether or not it would stick to its zero-COVID policy.

We need to start doing that hard thinking now. You have to plan accordingly.”

Experts said that even if Hong Kong were to continue with zero-COVID through mass testing and thorough contact tracing, Hong Kong will still have to live with the virus.

According to the University of Hong Kong’s latest study, approximately half of city residents are already infected.

Experts said that it is important to increase vaccinations by 90%, rather than the current 80%, in order to protect the vulnerable such as people living in nursing homes. At present, only 56% are vaccinated among those older than 80.

With residents developing immunity from vaccinations and infections, it’s likely that future outbreaks will be less severe, said Dr. Siddharth Sridhar, clinical assistant professor of Microbiology at the University of Hong Kong.

“So that gives us a certain degree of freedom in terms of opening up more and having more reasonable travel restrictions that what we have seen before.”

Since the outbreak of pandemic in 2020, Hong Kong has taken some of its harshest measures.

It is illegal to fly from any nine countries including Britain and the United States. Travellers from inbound countries that test positive on arrival are required to stay at a hotel for 14 nights. This is a stricter policy than the one for residents who have been infected and must isolate themselves for seven days before testing negative.

Some experts suggested that the rules should be repealed immediately as they have no scientific foundation.

Ben Cowling, epidemiologist, suggested that social distancing measures could include a ban or closure on larger gatherings than two and the closing of all venues. A curfew for restaurant dining beyond 6 p.m. can also be considered.

Hong Kong may follow Singapore’s lead and do the same thing. After “three to six month”, where all these measures are relaxed, individuals can manage their own risk, without any need to have community policies.