A soaring Coronavirus outbreak in Hong Kong has forced the government to invoke emergency powers. This will allow mainland doctors and nurses to work in the territory to help combat the outbreak. The densely populated metropolis is experiencing its most severe Coronavirus outbreak in history. It is registering thousands of cases every day and overwhelming hospitals and the government’s efforts to isolate infected individuals.
Authorities in Hong Kong have adhered to a zero-covid strategy similar to mainland China, which has kept infections mostly at bay throughout the pandemic. They were caught off guard as the highly infectious Omicron variant made its way through their defenses, and have since increasingly reached out to the mainland for assistance. ‘Hong Kong now faces a very dire epidemic situation that is deteriorating rapidly,’ the government said in a statement announcing the use of emergency powers.
At present, mainland Chinese doctors are not permitted to work in Hong Kong without passing local exams and licensing regulations. A statement stated that the emergency powers allow certain persons or projects to be exempt from all relevant statutory requirements in order to boost Hong Kong’s epidemic control capacity. China’s President Xi Jinping last week ordered Hong Kong to use ‘any necessary means’ to bring the outbreak under control, signaling that Hong Kong would not be allowed to take its chances living with a virus-like much of the rest of the world. Allowing Chinese mainland doctors to work in Hong Kong has been in the spotlight for years. Even before the pandemic, supporters argued it could ease shortages in the city’s overstretched healthcare system.
Medical practitioners have raised concerns about language and cultural barriers, but critics dismiss such claims as protectionism. Hong Kong was supposed to operate as a semi-autonomous region from China after returning from British colonial rule in 1997. But that autonomy was eroded following the Chinese crackdown on democracy. Over 62,000 Covid cases were recorded in Hong Kong in the current wave, as opposed to just 12,000 in the previous wave. Health experts fear the real number is far higher due to a testing backlog and people avoiding testing for fear of being put into isolation units if they are positive. Around 1,200 healthcare workers have been infected as of Wednesday, according to the Hospital Authority.
Hospital Authority Chairman Henry Fan told state media on Monday that he hoped the mainland government would send over doctors and nurses because local manpower had been ‘exhausted’. Hong Kong has ordered all 7.4 million residents to go through three rounds of mandatory Coronavirus testing next month. China is helping to build a series of isolation units and temporary hospital wards but it is unclear whether enough can be done.
According to local estimates, the city may see as many as 180,000 infections and 100 deaths by the middle of March. China is increasingly ruling Hong Kong by fiat. Two years ago, Beijing’s top law-making body imposed on Hong Kong a sweeping national security law and a political restructuring in response to large-scale protests against its rule. Local authorities are increasingly resorting to emergency orders.
Authorities also used these powers to ban masks during the 2019 protests. The city’s disease prevention law has also been used to ban public gatherings and impose a host of social distancing and business closure measures on and off for the past two years. Last week, the city’s chief executive used emergency powers to delay the selection of the city’s next leader, citing the pandemic.
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