Hong Kong leader ‘deeply sorry’ for long queues amid Covid surge

Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, has said she is deeply sorry and anxious about long queues at coronavirus testing centres and isolation facilities after a record number of new cases left authorities scrambling.

Hong Kong’s daily Covid-19 infections nearly doubled to a record 1,161 cases on Wednesday as the global financial hub battles a surge that is proving to be the biggest test of its “dynamic zero” policy of virus suppression.

The city is due to report 986 new infections on Thursday, broadcaster TVB reported, citing an unidentified source.

Writing on her official Facebook page on Wednesday night, Lam said the government was working hard to enhance capacity and that the fast-spreading infections, hitting places like elderly care homes, were the last thing she wanted to see.

“Citizens have to wait for a long time to receive testing and a large number of people who have tested positive have been waiting for a long time for isolation facilities,” she said.

“I am deeply sorry and anxious.”

Hong Kong has adopted a “zero-Covid” strategy, as has mainland China, which entails suppressing all outbreaks as soon as possible, in contrast with many other places that are trying to “live with Covid”, relying on high vaccination rates to bring protection while easing restrictions.

The fast-spreading Omicron variant is testing both approaches though experts have said Hong Kong’s strategy looks unceasingly unsustainable with cases ballooning.

Hong Kong has reported nearly 4,000 infections over the past two weeks, up from just two in December, taking its tally to more than 17,000 since the outbreak began in 2020, with 215 deaths, figures that are much are lower than those seen in other major cities around the world.

Authorities have responded to the latest surge with the toughest suppression measures yet, despite an increasing social and economic toll on the city’s 7.5 million residents.

Public gatherings of more than two people are banned from Thursday while gatherings in homes have also been restricted. The rules add to already strict measures that have forced restaurants to close from 6pm and shut most venues from churches to schools, gyms and cinemas.

About 200,000 people in the Discovery Bay residential area, where many foreigners live, have been ordered to get tested after the government said it detected coronavirus in sewage samples.

Typically, people are mandated to test if they have been in an area where infections are detected, and big crowds have thronged testing centres across the city in recent days.

Lam said the city was not able to try to live with the virus because more than 50% of the elderly have not been vaccinated.

About 80% of the city’s residents have had at least one vaccine shot but many elderly people have been hesitant.

Two people in their 70s died were the latest to die from coronavirus, authorities said on Wednesday.