Health authorities successfully fought the Covid pandemic, says Sophia Chan

The Food and Health Bureau has stood its ground and successfully fought against the Covid-19 pandemic in the past term, health chief Sophia Chan Siu-chee said.  

Chan said in the summary of her five-year work that the bureau has spent half of its time fighting the pandemic while continuing to promote various medical and health policies to ensure the sustainable development of Hong Kong's healthcare system and the best protection of public health.  

She said that the government has been adhering to guarding against the importation of cases and the resurgence of domestic infections and has done its best to reduce deaths, serious illnesses, and infections.  

In the past two and a half years, the bureau has implemented a number of anti-epidemic measures, including the "designated quarantine hotel scheme," which requires overseas arrivals to undergo mandatory quarantine under closed-loop management.  

In terms of community testing, the government has adopted a strategy of testing as much as possible, while arranging many quarantine facilities at the same time.  

Chan also said that the Legislative Council passed the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill last year to allow qualified non-local trained doctors to work in Hong Kong. The first two batches of approved medical qualifications were announced in April and June.  

She said the record low rate of smokers in Hong Kong was a milestone in the city's tobacco control work, and the bureau will step up the "Tobacco End Game" to steadily promote the goal of a smoke-free Hong Kong.  

She added that more than half of the past five years were spent fighting against each wave of the pandemic. The city also faced problems, including an aging population and a shortage of medical staff, which, as she said, will make the bureau's work in the future "full of challenges."  

She concluded that she was confident that with the persistence and enthusiasm of various departments and health care workers, Hong Kong would definitely win the battle against the virus and return to normal as soon as possible.