February 17, 2022
HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, on Wednesday vowed to go all-out in the fight against the raging pandemic by fully leveraging the nation’s support and uniting the various sectors of society.
Her statement came after President Xi Jinping expressed great concern about the city’s raging outbreak and instructed the special administrative region’s government to prioritize pandemic control.
Expressing gratitude for Xi’s remarks, the Hong Kong leader said the SAR government will shoulder its responsibility to rein in the pandemic.
The SAR government has been fully mobilized to fight the pandemic, and has closely coordinated various anti-pandemic forces in society
Carrie Lam, Chief Executive, HKSAR
The fifth wave of COVID-19 infections has developed far beyond the capacity of the SAR government to handle, and thus the city has turned to the central government for assistance, she said.
“Faced with the fifth wave of the epidemic, the HKSAR government has, with its own continuous efforts, been striving to contain the virus by a multi-pronged approach and continuously enhance and adjust measures to boost its capability having regard to the epidemic situation. However, the rapid development of the disease has put Hong Kong under a considerably severe situation and outgrown the handling capacity of the HKSAR government,” she said.
On Saturday, a group of high-level Hong Kong officials attended a meeting in Shenzhen with officials from the central government and Guangdong province to discuss cross-border pandemic-control cooperation.
Lam said cooperation has already started in five aspects: exchanges of epidemiologists, enhancement of testing capacity, assistance in building community isolation and treatment facilities, ensuring medical supplies, and also ensuring the delivery of necessities.
The SAR government has been fully mobilized to fight the pandemic, and has closely coordinated various anti-pandemic forces in society, she said.
“With the sincere care of the central authorities as well as the staunch support from the ministries and commissions of the central authorities and the Guangdong provincial government, we are determined to work as a team and spare no effort in fighting this epidemic in order for the people of Hong Kong to resume their normal lives early,” said the CE.