Hong Kong postponed until May 8 the elections for the chief executive scheduled for March 27 due to the serious health situation in the former British colonyin full combat against a fifth wave of covid-19 infections caused by the omicron variant.
The current chief executive, Carrie Lam, announced the decision at a press conference in which she admitted that it is a “tough decision” but considered that all efforts and resources should be directed to controlling the pandemic.
“We cannot afford any distraction and we cannot afford to make mistakes,” said the Hong Kong chief executive, who estimated that stabilizing and reducing the current rate of infection will take at least two months.
Yesterday, the Hong Kong chief executive reported that they were going to test the 7.5 million inhabitants of the city.
“One of the measures that we are preparing, and very seriously, is a mandatory universal test,” Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam told a news conference, referring to the “critical situation” in the city.
Mass testing of the population is routinely practiced in mainland China, whose authorities observe a “zero covid” policy that sometimes leads them to lock down entire cities for weeks.
However, Lam ruled out the possibility of confining Hong Konga measure that is difficult to apply in a city whose population density is one of the highest in the world and where housing is often meager and shared.
Sanitary collapse by omicron
The fifth wave caused by omicron, the worst in the entire pandemic, has collapsed the island’s health system, which in the last two days has reported more infections than in the previous two years.
Mainland China has had to come to the aid of the former colony by sending personnel and supplies, while the country’s president, Xi Jinping, has ordered the Hong Kong Executive to control the situation.
During the last three weeks, accumulated cases in Hong Kong (7.5 million inhabitants) have shot up more than 60%, from 13,000 to 37,000, something unprecedented in the former British colonywhich managed for months to keep daily infections below 100 and now exceeds 1,000 on some days -3,629 yesterday and today it is expected to be around 7,000-.
Until this outbreak, Hong Kong had managed to keep the pandemic under controlalthough at a high price: with travel restrictions among the strictest in the world, the isolation of the Asian business center has caused the exodus of numerous foreign companies, risking its status as an international financial center.
Gatherings of no more than two people
Still, the local government announced even tougher measures this month, including reducing social gatherings to two people and one “vaccination passport” that will come into force on the 24th, vetoing the entrance to shopping centers, supermarkets or hairdressers to those who are not vaccinated.
One of the most worrying factors of this fifth wave is that it occurs with a very low vaccination rate among the elderly population: only 27% of those over 80 have received at least two doses, while in the general population the percentage rises to 75.4%. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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