In Hong Kong, where the highly infectious omicron subvariant XBB 1.5 is replacing the BA 2.75 version, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. We must remain vigilant.
This new subvariant is ripping through the US, accounting for nearly 40 percent of its cases. The new subvariant’s potent array of mutations not only help it dodge immune defenses but improve its ability to invade cells, being the most transmissible variant to date.
In Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, exceptional precautions have been taken to deal with this subvariant as quarantine-free travel resumed between the two sides.
The HKSAR government has so far done an impressive job managing supplies of medicines, while running and balancing the workload of its public health system. The Hospital Authority has curtailed routine medical work by 30 percent, freeing up manpower to cope with any unexpected demands from the pandemic. Despite this, the public health system continues to run efficiently, and is in capable hands. Our public medical staff, as well as the government, deserve a pat on the back for this accomplishment.
On the mainland, however, there were early and unconfirmed reports of confusion, following the lifting of the zero-COVID policy. These unverified reports told of some emergency wards being severely crowded, unable to cope with the rising number of patients, and shortages of medical supplies such as painkillers and cough medicines. There were also rumors of greatly inflated prices, with a box of Panadol, in one case, selling for more than 1,000 yuan ($148). Fortunately, this situation has improved.
The previous alpha and delta variants of COVID-19 were far more deadly, and led to worse lung damage than this latest subvariant. Public education needs to be stepped up so as to calm the fears of the public on the mainland. They need to learn that, although more infectious, XBB 1.5 is nowhere near as lethal or incapacitating as its predecessors. They also ought to be urged to receive proper vaccines, and to stock up on necessary cold and fever medications, avoiding panic buying.
Although omicron variants cause milder infection and lung damage than previous versions, they are certainly more serious than influenza, and may still cause severe complications, with the young and elderly most at risk, especially those who are not fully vaccinated.
Sadly, we have seen some European countries such as Italy, Spain and the UK spreading unfounded rumors about China’s situation, imposing test requirements specifically for travelers from the Chinese mainland. Japan and South Korea have followed suit, while some countries have subsequently come to their senses. There is no scientific proof that such measures are effective. According to The Guardian, some experts dismissed such discriminative measures as politically driven, saying they would make no difference to any rise or fall in the number of cases in Britain.
UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay was briefed by his chief medical officer that there were no significant benefits from testing travelers from China. While British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak admitted COVID-19 checks were “more important for Britain to align itself with other nations” that had already imposed such tests, than anything to do with safety. Such “alignment” argument is hardly convincing. The exaggerated move to screen Chinese travelers is disingenuous. Fighting the coronavirus is purely a war between the virus itself and humankind. We should unite to defeat it, rather than use it as a pawn in some never-ending game of political one-upmanship.
Some Western politicians have accused China of a lack of transparency in the war against COVID-19. To counter such allegations, we need to present a positive narrative, highlighting China’s side of the story. Hong Kong has an important role to play in strengthening the motherland’s standing, for the sake of the country and the city itself.
This coming Lunar New Year will see some 2 billion passenger trips made. China’s 40-day Spring Festival travel rush is the world’s largest human migration. At the same time, Hong Kong’s current maximum bilateral flow limit of 60,000 people per day, between it and the mainland, stands in stark contrast to the pre-COVID number of travelers, which could reach 600,000 per day. This suitably cautious arrangement needs to be maintained, for now.
With such huge human activity predicted in the coming weeks, it is inevitable that the number of COVID-19 infections will rise. Therefore, people here and on the mainland need to be prepared, educated and well-supplied with medicines, in advance. And more importantly, they need to get fully vaccinated.
We can ill-afford to go through the same bitter experience as Britain, which saw its public health system teeter on the brink of collapse. Some UK patients had to wait 99 hours before being treated in an emergency ward, an unimaginable scenario in Hong Kong where the worst case on record was eight hours.
Britain’s National Health Service staff have been forced to examine patients in storage cupboards and hospital corridors. Some patients have even had to lie on the floor due to a shortage of hospital beds and chairs as they await examination by a doctor. Adding fuel to the flame currently burning beneath Britain’s public health system, two other viruses, namely the flu and respiratory syncytial virus, are rearing their heads. Meanwhile, ongoing industrial action by NHS nurses is not exactly helping.
With the reopening of Hong Kong to so many visitors from the mainland, we need to pay attention to a number of areas. First and foremost, mainland travelers to Hong Kong must be fully vaccinated so as to reduce the chances of them falling sick and becoming a burden on our strained medical system.
A proper distribution system for vaccines, one giving priority to local residents, needs to be put in place. We must avoid any rush by mainland visitors wishing to receive new vaccines upon arrival. The system should anticipate demand, and allow access to all including mainland visitors, as long as sufficient stocks exist to serve residents first. Likewise, for over-the-counter medicines such as Panadol, we may need to ration visitors’ purchases to, say, a certain number of packets per person, to ensure sufficient stock for local use.
It is a good idea to encourage mainland travelers to take out travel insurance covering COVID-19 infections when they come to Hong Kong so that if the unfortunate situation arises whereby they become infected and fall seriously ill and have to be hospitalized, at least they will have one thing less to worry about.
The author is president of the Wisdom Hong Kong think tank.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.