Hong Kong is “on the verge of a large-scale community outbreak,” according to Chief Executive Carrie Lam as the city implements new social distancing measures.
Lam explained that Hong Kong faces a community outbreak that may push its health-care facilities to their fullest capacity and cost lives.
A prerecorded video address on Tuesday shows Lam reporting an “upsurge” in local infections. Moreover, there are “many with yet unknown sources.” Data showed that coronavirus cases in Hong Kong rose in July, with a new daily high of 145 recorded this week.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, officials said they were investigating 106 new cases, making the total number of Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong to at least 2,884.
“We are on the verge of a large-scale community outbreak, which may lead to a collapse of our hospital system and cost lives, especially of the elderly,” the chief executive said.
Hong Kong was initially able to manage the coronavirus outbreak despite being close to the city of Wuhan in China, where Covid-19 was first reported in 2019. Hong Kong did not fully implement a lockdown while many other countries implemented restrictive social distancing measures. Disneyland Hong Kong even reopened in mid-June.
However, the city rolled out new and stricter social distancing rules, prohibiting gatherings of more than two people as well as dine-in services.
Lam urged citizens to cooperate in order to keep the city protected. “I appeal to you to follow strictly the social distancing measures and stay at home as far as possible. If we stand united and work together, we can suppress this epidemic again.”
Community response
Hong Kong was previously lauded for its strong community response to the coronavirus pandemic. Their ability to manage the virus is based on the city’s experience with the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic.
Many people are work from home. Shopping malls and restaurants are less busy, while schools remain closed. Almost all Hong Kongers are wearing masks. Office buildings, commercial centres, and public institutions implement temperature checks. There are free sanitizer dispensers are widely available.
The Hong Kong government also recognize the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on their economy.
“This is indeed a very difficult balancing act,” Lam said before during a regular weekly news conference, reflecting on the recession-hit economy.
“For the time being, the better balance to be struck and a safer approach to ensure all these successes that Hong Kong has achieved over the last months would not be wasted is to extend these social distancing measures for another 14 days,” she said.
Moreover, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) admitted that the Singapore economy is still in a “dire” situation due to the pandemic.
The country is facing high unemployment rate and corporate bankruptcies that are expected to rise in the coming months.
Advance estimates issued by the Ministry of Trade and Industry affirmed that the Southeast Asian economy entered a technical recession after falling by 41.2% in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter.
According to the official forecast, the economy may contract between 4% and 7% this year. This may be considered as the harshest downturn since the country’s independence in 1965.
