Recently, Hong Kong is being hit by the new coronavirus Olmi kerong and Delta strains, and the epidemic situation is extremely severe. The number of new confirmed cases in Hong Kong remains high, exceeding 100 cases for many consecutive days, and the Hong Kong SAR government has resolutely adopted a number of strict anti-epidemic measures of "external prevention of importation and internal prevention of proliferation", including increasing the number of tracked cases, improving community testing capabilities, promoting self-testing by citizens, deploying home isolation arrangements, and "containing" the transmission chain to control the epidemic. At the same time, the HKSAR Government has also launched all its efforts to increase the vaccination rate and build a community protection barrier. As of 6 February, the first dose in Hong Kong had exceeded 80%, with more than 5.39 million people vaccinated.
At this critical moment, adhering to the implementation of "dynamic zero clearance" is the most effective way to prevent and fight the epidemic and protect the health and safety of the public. However, some people still misunderstand that "dynamic zero clearance" equals "zero tolerance", and even irresponsibly propose that Hong Kong should abandon "dynamic zeroing" and implement the so-called "lying flat" strategy of "coexisting with the virus". In fact, the so-called negative mentality of "coexistence with the virus" has neither a scientific basis nor a practical harm, such as allowing erroneous arguments to prevail and confuse the public opinion, which will shake the confidence of the whole Hong Kong society in fighting the epidemic and affect the effectiveness of the fight against the epidemic.
Leung Wannian, head of the Expert Group of the National Health commission's Leading Group for COVID-19 Response and Handling, recently supported Hong Kong's fight against the epidemic, from why it should adhere to "dynamic clearance" to how to achieve the goal, and made a clear answer, which will help break the wrong concept of "coexistence with the virus" and strengthen the confidence of Hong Kong society in fighting the epidemic. Liang Wannian pointed out that "dynamic zero clearance" is not the pursuit of zero infection, but "rapid detection, rapid disposal, precise control, and effective treatment" to achieve a balance between fighting the epidemic, daily life and developing the economy.
For Hong Kong, to adhere to the general direction of "zero clearance", what should be done is to continuously sum up the anti-epidemic experience and continuously optimize the anti-epidemic means. Leung Wannian believes that Hong Kong's fight against the epidemic should achieve "five precisions", that is, accurate epidemiological investigation, accurate delineation of close contacts, accurate demarcation of risky areas, accurate medical treatment, and accurate implementation of community prevention and control. It is imperative to expand nucleic acid testing to find the source of infection earlier and faster.
"Dynamic zeroing" is by no means the so-called "at any cost", but the smallest price in exchange for the greatest result. The mainland's economic development has been "thriving" for two consecutive years, and Hong Kong's economy recovered strongly last year, which is the best illustration. At present, Hong Kong must race against time, unite all walks of life, fight the epidemic in unison, and cannot take chances.
In difficult times, confidence is the root of all strength, and Hong Kong must build confidence in fighting the epidemic. Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said that the central government has always been the strongest backing of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Recently, Guangdong Province has provided assistance at the request of the HKSAR Government in terms of increasing manpower to enhance Hong Kong's local testing capacity. The HKSAR Government is determined to go all out to join hands with all walks of life and overcome this menacing epidemic with the support of the central government and the cooperation of the public.
At the same time, in order to jointly respond to the fifth wave of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in Hong Kong, many Citizens in Hong Kong have actively joined the fight against the epidemic as volunteers on the basis of protective measures. For example, we will assist in the work of rapid packaging inspection packages and work hand in hand with the SAR Government with practical actions.
Hong Kong, which has experienced ups and downs, has never been afraid of any difficulties. It is believed that with the full support of the central government and the more resolute measures of the SAR Government, the life safety of Hong Kong citizens will certainly be fully guaranteed; the whole Hong Kong people should actively face the epidemic, abide by and cooperate with the SAR Government's epidemic prevention policy, and believe that the fifth wave of the epidemic will be effectively contained and extinguished, and Hong Kong will be able to usher in rainy skies. (Reporters Zhou Weiqi, Zhu Dan, Jin Dong, Ye Lili, Wei Kefeng)