Nation helps HKSAR fight worst outbreak
China mobilizes all available resources to offer support as territory battles Omicron-driven fifth COVID wave
When Hong Kong is in need, the nation always lends a helping hand — as it has for the city as it grapples with its worst wave of the COVID-19 pandemic to date.
All available resources, including funding, manpower, facilities and other supplies, have been mobilized to help Hong Kong win this battle as residents contend with the distress and uncertainty brought by the Omicron variant.
For health workers who have crossed the border to serve on the front line, and those who have remained on the Chinese mainland to assist the operation, there is only one goal — to help Hong Kong compatriots resume normal life as soon as possible.
By March 5 evening, 12 types of medical supplies worth 582 million yuan ($91.94 million) had arrived in Hong Kong from the mainland, including testing kits, protective materials, medicines and disinfectants.
On March 5 alone, the mainland provided 1,880 metric tons of vegetables, 415 tons of fruit and 551 tons of chilled meat to the city.
Hong Kong has successfully coped with four COVID-19 outbreaks, but not its fifth.
Since Dec 31, the city has reported 458,986 cases of the disease, some 97 percent of the local total since the pandemic emerged in early 2020. The number of cases has skyrocketed since late January, with daily infections reaching a peak of 56,827 to date on March 3.
The raging outbreak is far beyond Hong Kong’s capacity to handle, placing tremendous pressure not only on pandemic control, but also on serving residents’ basic needs.
Early last month, the city’s daily testing capacity was only 100,000, and it had 5,000 isolation units and 3,000 beds for COVID-19 patients. Crowds waited in many areas to get tested and the price of vegetables soared to unprecedented levels due to a supply shortage.
In view of the critical situation, President Xi Jinping expressed great concern over the pandemic in Hong Kong and ordered all central government departments and local authorities to give the city full assistance.
He also stressed that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s government should assume the main responsibility for stabilizing the situation.
Following the president’s comments, seven high-level coordination meetings were held. Hundreds of medical experts and engineers have arrived in the city to address anti-pandemic bottlenecks, with numerous medical supplies and fresh food being shipped in to ease shortages.
Hong Kong also invoked the Emergency Regulations Ordinance — removing legal barriers and allowing the mainland to send personnel and assistance to the city.
With the nation’s wide-ranging support, Hong Kong is now preparing for COVID-19 testing throughout the city this month, with the daily testing capacity expected to exceed 1 million. The number of isolation units will also rise to 70,000.
The national assistance operation is being led by a group of top epidemiologists and critical care specialists who have arrived to help Hong Kong combat the pandemic.
They have inspected facilities and exchanged views with local experts to help diagnose the city’s weakness in this fight. The first group of these experts to arrive also extended their visit to offer more support.
Liang Wannian, head of the National Health Commission’s COVID-19 leading task force — by far the highest-ranking health official visiting the city for pandemic control efforts — pledged to do everything he could to help Hong Kong overcome the virus, expressing full confidence in winning the battle.
The Hong Kong government’s pandemic adviser Hui Shu-cheong said the experts offered many insights, including advice on the reporting system for daily cases, the treatment of patients, and also arrangements for infected medical workers.
Hui said the tips were highly appreciated and the government would actively follow these.
In addition to the experts, groups of other professionals have been working in Hong Kong for several weeks to enhance testing capacity.
Several mainland biotechnical companies have also set up a number of inflatable laboratories to further shorten the testing process. To help with the mass testing, the mainland mobilized 9,000 sampling staff members, ready to offer help at any time.
Other medical workers unable to travel to Hong Kong have joined the battle in their own way.
Wedoctor, a mainland online healthcare service provider, invited more than 23,000 doctors on its platform to offer 24-hour medical consultation to Hong Kong residents for free.
Contracted by mainland companies, nine isolation and treatment facilities are being set up to ease the burden on hospitals. These projects are expected to provide 50,000 isolation and treatment places.
Facing cold weather, rain and the risk of infection, the workers toiled day and night to speed up the process. The facility in Tsing Yi, constructed in just seven days, was put into use on March 1.
Three designated sea routes and a rail link were opened with the neighboring city of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, to transport vegetables and other supplies.
A number of mainland cities also opened “green channels” to deliver supplies. To handle the large amount of material received, mainland logistics giant Cainiao offered to provide warehouse space and delivery services for free in Hong Kong.
There have also been numerous donations of funds and anti-pandemic supplies from mainland enterprises and groups. Face masks, testing kits and medicine are among the donated supplies that continue to pour into Hong Kong, extending the warmth and care shown by mainland compatriots.
Many Hong Kong residents have taken to social media to voice their thanks for the mainland’s prompt support in building isolation facilities, saying they hope workers who have arrived from across the border stay safe.
On a number of occasions, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has expressed heartfelt appreciation for the nation’s unswerving support.
In a recent video call to all residents, Lam said that although the city faces a critical situation regarding the pandemic, with the nation’s staunch support she has no doubt that Hong Kong will get through the crisis and win the battle.
David Chan, a 30-year-old clerk, said the nation’s support has been quick and reassuring at such a tough time.
Noting that thousands of mainland medical workers helped the city conduct mass testing in 2020, he said such assistance is vital again to enable Hong Kong to quickly identify infected patients and rein in the virus.
Ming Wai-kit, an assistant professor of public health at City University of Hong Kong, said there will be a severe local staffing shortage if cases continue to rise exponentially.
Cases will rise when universal testing begins and more isolation units are put into operation, but Ming said the help of mainland workers will greatly ease pressure on the city and enhance its resilience.
Chow Pak-chin, a doctor and president of the think tank Wisdom Hong Kong, said the city’s capabilities and infrastructure are insufficient to cope with the current situation, but with the mainland offering help with “hardware and software”, there is hope that the fifth wave of the outbreak can be contained and even beaten.
Hong Kong has endured four waves of mass infection during the past two years, but the city is still ill-prepared and ill-equipped to battle the latest one, he said.
Chow emphasized that — as President Xi said in his statement — the central government is here to help, but the main responsibility in the city’s battle against COVID-19 rests squarely on the shoulders of the Hong Kong SAR government.