'Unbearable consequences' if HK shifts Covid tactics

Hong Kong should stick to the "dynamic zero" Covid strategy by keeping tight infection-containment measures and pumping up vaccine coverage as the "live with the virus" approach is not suitable for the city, state media Xinhua News Agency and People's Daily say.

Xinhua's commentary said the most pressing issue in Hong Kong is for people to unify their views and persist in enforcing the "dynamic zero" policy.

Xinhua noted that calls for the city to start living with the virus have received support recently, while the government's long-running strategy of achieving "dynamic zero" has been misunderstood or even twisted.

Explaining the approach, it said "dynamic zero" means to quickly detect infections and adopt immediate management and treatment to cut transmission chains.

"As the overall strategy in China's anti-epidemic policies, 'dynamic zero' does not mean having zero infections, but the basic principles are rapid discovery, quick handling, precise management and effective treatment," Xinhua said, adding on-and-off outbreaks across the mainland have been well contained under such approach.

It said achieving "dynamic zero" remains the most useful strategy for the city as its vaccination coverage of just 80 percent receiving at least one shot is insufficient and giving up measures to achieve zero infections will lead to "unbearable consequences" for the economy and public health.

"It is too early to adopt the 'live with the virus' approach, which is not supported by science and will only heavily shock Hong Kong's medical system, not to mention [delay] quarantine-free cross-border travel with the mainland," it wrote.

People's Daily's piece defended the "dynamic zero" perspective, saying it is the best option for Hong Kong and criticized the "live with the virus" approach as a "lazy way of doing nothing."

It added: "Hong Kong has a dense population with a large proportion of elderly and limited medical resources. More than one million citizens have yet to receive their first dose and the jab coverage is rather low among seniors aged 70 or above."

As an international city, Hong Kong faces a high risk from imported cases and a "live with the virus" strategy will definitely allow the coronavirus to spread massively, creating serious damage to the SAR's livelihood and socio-economic development, it said.

"Only by proactively complying with 'dynamic zero' can the number of infections, complications and deaths be reduced and a breakdown of medical resources be prevented, so people's lives and health can be protected to the largest extent," the commentary said.

National Health Commission expert Liang Wannian said on television that Hong Kong's pressing task is to extend the scope of tests to flush out silent carriers.

Liang, an infectious disease expert, said Hong Kong's high number of infections from untraceable sources signifies large-scale community transmissions.

"The top priority is to test people as much as possible," he said. "If they are not sure about who to test, from my experience, it's best to draw the scope bigger. What we want is for all newly discovered cases to come from the scope."

jane.cheung@singtaonewscorp.com