HK to contain Covid with China’s support
HONG KONG: Hong Kong is in “all-out combat” to contain a surge in coronavirus cases, the city’s number two official said on Sunday, with the ramping up of community isolation and treatment units helped by mainland Chinese construction teams. With a reported 6,063 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, the government said in a statement that the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal would be turned into a dedicated Covid facility with 1,000 beds to mitigate overburdened public hospitals.
Hong Kong’s embattled leader Carrie Lam, who attended a ground-breaking ceremony at a construction site for nearly 10,000 Covid units at Penny’s Bay close to the city’s Disneyland resort, said the initiatives would enhance the city’s anti-epidemic capacity “within a very short period of time”.
Hong Kong’s top civil servant, John Lee, responded in a blog post on Sunday that the city’s “government has entered a state of all-out combat. In accordance with President Xi Jinping’s important instructions, to stabilise and control the epidemic as the overriding task.”
The global financial hub’s “dynamic zero-Covid” policies, mirroring those in mainland China, have contributed to its current woes and are unsustainable, some experts say.
HONG KONG’S ‘DYNAMIC ZEROCOVID’ POLICIES, MIRRORING THOSE IN CHINA, HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO ITS CURRENT WOES AND ARE UNSUSTAINABLE, SOME EXPERTS SAY
UK’s PM denies ‘end to Covid law is reckless’ British PM Boris Johnson has denied throwing “caution to the wind” as he prepares to end all pandemic-related legal restrictions in England, amid a political backlash and scientific unease. Johnson’s premiership is in peril as police investigate a series of lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street, and he stands accused by opposition parties of seeking to distract public attention with the new Covid plan.
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth II has tested positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing “mild cold-like symptoms”, Buckingham Palace said on Sunday.
The 95-year-old monarch remains at her Windsor Castle residence and is expected to carry out light duties over the next few days. “She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines,” a Buckingham Palace statement said.
Canada: Police crack down on protesters
Most trucks supporting the Freedom Convoy 2022 agitation either vacated or towed away from the core of Canada’s capital Ottawa as the demonstration appeared to approach its end.
While the blockade was cleared, several protestors remained in and around the core, without the vehicles, but continuing their civil disobedience against vaccine mandates, passports and other Covid-19 related restrictions.
A release from the Convoy accused the police of “brutality”, saying it was shocked at the abuses of power by the law enforcement in Ottawa” and that police had “beaten peaceful protesters with batons and the stock of their guns”.
Ottawa Police denied the charges, while admitting to use of anti-riot weaponry to “stop the violent actions of the protesters”. However, the New York Times reported protesters were met with “force”, some being taken away at gun point.