The Hong Kong government didn’t immediately respond to queries on the reports from Bloomberg News.
After two years of limited outbreaks, Hong Kong is facing its toughest virus challenge of the pandemic, with the highly transmissible omicron variant testing its zero-tolerance, high intensity approach to keeping Covid-19 out. New cases have ballooned from a few hundred a day to more than 34,000 on Monday.
Deaths are also ticking higher, with the under-vaccinated elderly population bearing the brunt as the virus spreads. Officials have already had to relinquish some of their key containment measures, including mandatory isolation for cases and detailed contact tracing, as the outbreak spirals out of control.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered Hong Kong last month to quell infections using “all necessary measures.” The country is the last remaining adherent of the so-called Covid-19 Zero strategy, which successfully eliminated the virus in places like Australia, New Zealand and Singapore early on, but is now being abandoned in the face of the more contagious virus strains.
Mainland officials have been urging Hong Kong to consider a lockdown, people familiar with discussions between the two sides told Bloomberg News last week. But officials have been reluctant given the impact it would have on the densely populated city.
“We need to seriously evaluate the level of restriction for citizens to go out because many people still have to provide services,” CEO Carrie Lam said in Shenzhen on Monday. “I believe that the number of civil servants to support the testing will be in tens of thousands. Those who are providing essential and emergency services cannot be restricted and there must be a way for them to go out.”
As cases continue to surge, businesses are closing stores as staff become infected. Drug retailer Mannings, controlled by Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd., said it would temporarily close 53 of it's over 300 stores in Hong Kong while 38 outlets would suspend pickup services for online purchases.
MTR Corp said it might have to run fewer trains and close some stations as hundreds of staff have been infected, RTHK reported.
The Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades urged the government to impose a seven-day lockdown in an open letter released Monday. The association, which represents over 1,200 members operating over 8,000 restaurants, said that it would be the most effective way to control the outbreak, and that businesses can’t sustain losses if the epidemic drags on.
European Lockdown
China was the first place in the world to impose a Covid-19 lockdown when it sealed off Wuhan in early 2020, and it has been deploying the tactic again in recent months as virus flare-ups become more common.
Why China Is Sticking With Its Covid-19 Zero Strategy: QuickTake
Nine days, as is reportedly planned in Hong Kong, is relatively short for a China-style lockdown. The mainland primarily deploys the measure to drive infections back towards zero rather than to mass test, which it typically does anyway. Xi’an in central China was locked down for a month earlier in the year, and strict curbs on people’s activities were in place. They weren’t able to walk dogs and food was largely delivered by the state. A lockdown in Baise, a smaller city in China’s southwest, was lifted last month after 20 days as the outbreak came under control.
A Dozen Days of Lockdown Spurs Angst in Chinese City of Xi’an
In Europe and other parts of the West that deployed pandemic lockdowns, residents were still allowed out to shop for groceries and exercise, with some exceptions.
Stay-at-home orders have largely been imposed as a way of stopping the virus’s spread, however, not necessarily to facilitate testing. Experts argue Hong Kong’s political climate — with the city rocked by anti-Beijing protests in 2019 — and dense living environment make a widespread lockdown untenable. CEO Carrie Lam said Feb. 15 that the government had no plans “whatsoever” to impose a “complete, wholesale lockdown.”
Short Sellers Target HK Before Lockdown: What to Watch in China
Nonetheless, concern about that possibility — and that families could be separated if they test positive in the mass testing drive — is fuelling an exodus from the territory, with departures hitting a record in the week ending Feb. 27, according to the latest data from the Hong Kong Immigration department.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Hong Kong to lock down city for testing
Image: Bloomberg
Hong Kong is planning to enforce a lockdown to ensure a mandatory Covid-19 testing drive planned for this month is effective, Sing Tao Daily and other domestic media reported Tuesday, as the worst virus outbreak in the city so far continues to snowball.
Testing of the financial hub’s 7.4 million people will start after March 17, Sing Tao said, citing people it didn’t identify.
Officials are aiming to test the whole city three times over nine days, with a stay-at-home order in place to maximise impact, Sing Tao and other media including the South China Morning Post reported. Hong Kong’s core financial services including the operations of the stock exchange will continue during the testing period, according to the report. Officials were said to be still working out the details.
Residents will be allowed to leave their homes to buy necessities like food during the lockdown, the Hong Kong Economic Times reported along with the SCMP, both citing unidentified people. Exemptions will be made for some essential workers, but the government is still assessing how widespread the lockdown will be and whether to take moves such as halting public transport, according to the SCMP.
The Hong Kong government didn’t immediately respond to queries on the reports from Bloomberg News.
After two years of limited outbreaks, Hong Kong is facing its toughest virus challenge of the pandemic, with the highly transmissible omicron variant testing its zero-tolerance, high intensity approach to keeping Covid-19 out. New cases have ballooned from a few hundred a day to more than 34,000 on Monday.
Deaths are also ticking higher, with the under-vaccinated elderly population bearing the brunt as the virus spreads. Officials have already had to relinquish some of their key containment measures, including mandatory isolation for cases and detailed contact tracing, as the outbreak spirals out of control.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered Hong Kong last month to quell infections using “all necessary measures.” The country is the last remaining adherent of the so-called Covid-19 Zero strategy, which successfully eliminated the virus in places like Australia, New Zealand and Singapore early on, but is now being abandoned in the face of the more contagious virus strains.
Mainland officials have been urging Hong Kong to consider a lockdown, people familiar with discussions between the two sides told Bloomberg News last week. But officials have been reluctant given the impact it would have on the densely populated city.
“We need to seriously evaluate the level of restriction for citizens to go out because many people still have to provide services,” CEO Carrie Lam said in Shenzhen on Monday. “I believe that the number of civil servants to support the testing will be in tens of thousands. Those who are providing essential and emergency services cannot be restricted and there must be a way for them to go out.”
As cases continue to surge, businesses are closing stores as staff become infected. Drug retailer Mannings, controlled by Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd., said it would temporarily close 53 of it's over 300 stores in Hong Kong while 38 outlets would suspend pickup services for online purchases.
MTR Corp said it might have to run fewer trains and close some stations as hundreds of staff have been infected, RTHK reported.
The Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades urged the government to impose a seven-day lockdown in an open letter released Monday. The association, which represents over 1,200 members operating over 8,000 restaurants, said that it would be the most effective way to control the outbreak, and that businesses can’t sustain losses if the epidemic drags on.
European Lockdown
China was the first place in the world to impose a Covid-19 lockdown when it sealed off Wuhan in early 2020, and it has been deploying the tactic again in recent months as virus flare-ups become more common.
Why China Is Sticking With Its Covid-19 Zero Strategy: QuickTake
Nine days, as is reportedly planned in Hong Kong, is relatively short for a China-style lockdown. The mainland primarily deploys the measure to drive infections back towards zero rather than to mass test, which it typically does anyway. Xi’an in central China was locked down for a month earlier in the year, and strict curbs on people’s activities were in place. They weren’t able to walk dogs and food was largely delivered by the state. A lockdown in Baise, a smaller city in China’s southwest, was lifted last month after 20 days as the outbreak came under control.
A Dozen Days of Lockdown Spurs Angst in Chinese City of Xi’an
In Europe and other parts of the West that deployed pandemic lockdowns, residents were still allowed out to shop for groceries and exercise, with some exceptions.
Stay-at-home orders have largely been imposed as a way of stopping the virus’s spread, however, not necessarily to facilitate testing. Experts argue Hong Kong’s political climate — with the city rocked by anti-Beijing protests in 2019 — and dense living environment make a widespread lockdown untenable. CEO Carrie Lam said Feb. 15 that the government had no plans “whatsoever” to impose a “complete, wholesale lockdown.”
Short Sellers Target HK Before Lockdown: What to Watch in China
Nonetheless, concern about that possibility — and that families could be separated if they test positive in the mass testing drive — is fuelling an exodus from the territory, with departures hitting a record in the week ending Feb. 27, according to the latest data from the Hong Kong Immigration department.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most read
Latest Videos