No plan for citywide lockdown for now, says John Lee

The government on Saturday said it has no plans at this stage for a citywide lockdown, as it expects forthcoming assistance from the mainland to be effective in helping Hong Kong rein in a sharp surge in Covid-19 cases.

Briefing the media after a day of talks with mainland officials in Shenzhen, Chief Secretary John Lee said central, provincial, and Shenzhen authorities have broadly agreed to assist the SAR in a variety of ways, including helping Hong Kong to build more isolation and quarantine facilities; expanding its testing capacity; and ensuring adequate supplies of medical equipment, fresh food, and daily necessities from across the border.

A number of special cross-border taskforces will be established immediately to take forward various plans to beef up Hong Kong’s anti-epidemic measures.

Asked whether Hong Kong has any plans for a citywide lockdown, Lee expressed confidence that things will get better without taking such a step.

“At the present moment we don’t have this [lockdown] plan,” Lee said, “because we believe that with the enhanced measures that we have introduced, it will take its effect because we have just introduced some tighter social distancing measures. And also with the assistance from the mainland – we believe that our capability will be increased, and we’ll be seeing positive improvement in those areas.”

Lee did not give any specifics of exactly how mainland authorities would help – such as whether mainland personnel will be coming in to the SAR, or if there are plans to build a Wuhan-style field hospital to help handle the current exponential rise in Covid-19 cases.

The new taskforces will carefully consider what the best plans are, and how to implement them, he added.

“Obviously how things are run and practiced in the mainland may have to be modified a little bit if it is to be applied in Hong Kong”, Lee explained. “That modification may or may not affect the effectiveness or efficiency of the whole arrangement.”

He also said mainland authorities have again given their firm backing to Hong Kong’s ‘dynamic clearance’ strategy of containing Covid-19.

“The SAR government will definitely be steadfast in holding its principles to put people’s lives and public health at the forefront, with ‘dynamic zero’ as the aim. This strategy is best suited to Hong Kong’s interests and the actual situation”, Lee stressed.