Hong Kong Chief Executive Li Ka-chiu: is discussing with the mainland to strive for a gradual resumption of cross-border traffic without increasing the risk of epidemics in the mainland.

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The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR, Mr. Lee Ka-chiu, delivered the Chief Executive’s 2022 Policy Address to the Legislative Council on October 19. This is the first Policy Address after Li Ka-chiu took office as the Chief Executive.

On the common fight against the epidemic, Li said that the new coronavirus has been raging for almost three years and Hong Kong, as a highly open economy, has been particularly affected by the epidemic. The SAR government’s anti-epidemic route is clear and is being pushed forward in a gradual manner, with the goal of creating maximum space for people’s livelihood and economic activities.

He pointed out that immediately after taking office, the current government formulated five principles to combat the epidemic.

(i) no lie flat, control the number of confirmed cases and ensure the loading capacity of the medical system.

(ii) Reduce serious illnesses and reduce deaths.

(iii) Protect the high-risk groups, including the “one old, one young” and the chronically ill.

(iv) Identify people at different risk levels with scientific precision and hierarchical control.

(v) Balancing the risk of the epidemic with economic needs.

Li Jiachao said: I have repeatedly mentioned that I hope “we will not go backward in the fight against the epidemic”. Our guiding principle in the fight against the epidemic is to exchange the minimum cost for maximum effectiveness. Under the premise that the epidemic is under control, the government’s course is to keep moving forward, adjusting and optimizing measures according to the actual situation and changes in the epidemic to ensure that everything moves forward in an orderly and steady manner.

He said the current government has been in office for more than three months and has already phased in a number of precise risk management-based measures to combat the epidemic and gradually relax controls. For example: the abolition of the flight meltdown mechanism; the implementation of “red and yellow codes” according to the risk of graded control; the 7-day centralized hotel quarantine to “3 + 4” and then “0 + 3”. Phased relaxation of social distance measures. The “0+3” measure, which we implemented on September 26, is a major change that formally removes the mandatory quarantine requirement for arrival in Hong Kong, which has been in place for more than two years. As soon as conditions permit, the Government will optimize the measures, including the social distance measures, in a step-by-step manner. The SAR Government will also design targeted programmes to ensure that Hong Kong’s events, economic and large-scale activities are carried out smoothly and securely.

Li pointed out that connectivity to the Mainland and overseas is equally important and must be pursued simultaneously. He said, we are fully engaged in discussions with the Mainland, and strive to resume cross-border exchanges in a gradual manner without increasing the risk of epidemics in the Mainland. The first goal is to do “reverse quarantine” in Hong Kong, that is, “pre-quarantine”, to meet the mainland “7 + 3” epidemic prevention standards, quarantine in Hong Kong after the closed loop to the mainland, to ensure that the epidemic will not be backed up to the mainland. “Pre-quarantine” can reduce the pressure on the Mainland quarantine hotels and manpower, and increase the certainty of Hong Kong to the Mainland. At the same time, we are discussing with the Mainland, under controlled risk, to increase the quota of the Shenzhen human channel to meet the needs of the people of the two places to connect.

Li Jiachao said that the road to fight the epidemic depends on many factors, too hasty will be chaos, will bring irreversible risks, the desire for speed instead of achieving. We need to pay close attention to the changes in overseas epidemics, the possible risks of winter influenza, the mutation of virus strains, and the capacity of the local medical system. The public must also comply with and cooperate with the epidemic prevention measures, so that the pace of the fight against the epidemic will not be affected by violation of the epidemic prevention rules, which will nullify the previous achievements. Only if we all play our part and work together will the fight against the epidemic go smoothly and achieve the goal of creating maximum space for people’s livelihood and economic activities.