Covid fatigue reaches tipping point

Clearly, the government is kicking the Covid can down the road despite mounting calls for an end to the quarantine policy that is increasingly isolating Hong Kong from the rest of the world.

This is extremely worrying.

The administration seems to be waiting for something - but what, exactly, is it waiting for?

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po wrote on his Sunday blog that boosting the vaccination rate is the key to reopening the borders.

If the vaccination rate were really the key, it would have been easy to answer the question as John Lee Ka-chiu's administration would have been able to readily set a figure above which the international borders would be reopened to normal travel.

Then, everyone - including tycoon Peter Woo Kwong-ching, China's CPPCC standing committee member Henry Tang Ying-yen, former commerce minister Frederick Ma Si-hang and their peers in the business sector - could have drawn up a business plan, knowing what to expect once the threshold was met.

Although this would still be not as desirable as ending the policy immediately, as urged by some experts including University of Hong Kong expert Ho Pak-leung, setting a numerical target would be preferable to asking society to wait and wait without letting the people know what they have been waiting for.

It's so true that, as Tang noted, the city will suffer from "internal bleeding" if it relies only on "internal circulation."

Chan could have easily filled the missing link by inserting a number in his blog. If he had done so, people - including Woo, Tang and Ma - would have felt better.

But he chose not to state a target and, regrettably, neither chief executive nor Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau provided a target.

That said, it may be recalled that experts had on several occasions also tried to assure that people could expect life to return to normal once a certain number of people were vaccinated. Different rates were mentioned, but people were disappointed each time those rates were achieved.

Calls are mounting. Even political heavyweights and prominent businessmen who seldom commented on the Covid policy publicly have had enough with what is increasingly looking to be an endless wait for the international borders to reopen to "smooth and convenient" travel.

Instead of a magical vaccination figure, government officials may be waiting for the outcome of the Communist Party congress in October.

As the government waits for the this event, it plays defensively in opposition to rising calls for an end to the current quarantine policy.

If this were truly the situation, it would be most unfortunate.

For one, the widely publicized financial summit organized by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is due to be held in November. Guests invited to attend the event normally have to confirm their business schedule well in advance.

Would it be too late to have the schedules confirmed if the government has to wait until after October for a clearer picture?

Time is running out and the government is still kicking the can down a road that leads to nowhere.