At the Legislative Council question and answer session on Wednesday (12th), Chief Executive Carrie Lam was pressed about the exemption of the crew members from isolation and quarantine, but she always refused to directly respond to whether the government would allow Cathay Pacific personnel to "go on passenger planes and return on cargo planes" and be exempted from isolation and quarantine, and why The crew is not required to wear hand straps after returning to Hong Kong.
The fifth wave of the outbreak is believed to have originated from crew members who were exempt from quarantine.
The "foreign import prevention" measures are not rigorous enough, and Cathay Pacific and the government must be held responsible for the consequences of omissions.
However, the previous practice of "passenger flight, cargo flight back" by the crew members was quoted in newspapers as saying that the government actually acquiesced. Cathay Pacific's statement on Tuesday (11th) also stated that it had submitted accurate records to the authorities, implying that the government knew .
In the question-and-answer session, Lam only reiterated that the "passenger plane to cargo plane and return" was the company's decision, and that it was inconvenient to comment because of the investigation.
But to be clear, to avoid responding to the government's knowledge is equivalent to evading the responsibility of responding to the government's supervision of enterprises.
Cathay Pacific Airways said that it was the company's decision to take the crew's passenger flight to the cargo plane and take full responsibility for it.
(Cathay Pacific live clip)
How can supervision responsibility be shied away?
The two governments and Cathay Pacific held a meeting in November last year on the quarantine exemption arrangement for crew members. At that time, the government also claimed that the arrangement was "discussed in detail by the Transport and Housing Bureau and Cathay Pacific, and was not handled by one airline alone".
The government may have downplayed Omicron's ability to spread, thinking that a little more rigor than it was during the Delta pandemic could prevent the virus from entering the community.
There are reports that officials have privately described Cathay Pacific as exploiting loopholes, and some media quoted the Transportation and Housing Bureau as stating that quarantine exemptions are only applicable to airline crews who do not have a connecting flight and have no passengers on their return journey.
Even if the above claims are true, the government—especially the Bureau of Transportation and Housing—has put too much trust in Cathay Pacific, believing that Cathay Pacific can urge employees to abide by the rules on its own.
In any case, the government also has the responsibility to ensure that the measures to prevent importation from abroad are implemented to the end.
The "Xindu Medical Center" located at Shop G3 on the ground floor of Xinbeijiang Shopping Mall in Kingswood Villas, Tin Shui Wai, New Territories, broke out that it had vaccinated citizens with expired Fubitai vaccine, and about 30 people were affected.
(Photo by Yu Junliang)
Confessing information to benefit society
In the entire anti-epidemic work, the government has the greatest responsibility and has the most information.
It is as if Cathay Pacific said that it has always reported the information of the crew, and the status of vaccination is also in the government's hands.
However, the Department of Health received a notification from a private clinic on January 6 that after vaccinating 36 people with expired vaccines, it did not disclose it honestly.
Some pharmacists pointed out that although the vaccine will not have side effects, the protection may be lower.
The department's early announcement of unhealthy clinics will help colleagues and the public to be vigilant.
Pursuing faults is not just about finding faults, but clarifying the responsibilities of all parties is to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
The epidemic has come to the fifth wave, and many policies and measures should have been done and done well, instead of being left out.
What's more, the more openness and transparency of various government departments will not only help prevent the epidemic, but also increase mutual trust between the people and the government.
Is Hong Kong capable of doing large-scale testing?
The epidemic has come to the fifth wave of anti-epidemic measures, and the self-monitoring arrangements in the past are not well-designed