The fifth wave of the epidemic is fierce. Since January 22, more than 100 new confirmed cases have been added every day, and they have repeatedly hit a single-day high. Yesterday (February 7), there were more than 614 cases.
This is an important juncture when we must unite to fight the epidemic, but some people disregard the overall interests of society and advocate that Hong Kong abandon the "dynamic zero" policy and "coexist with the virus".
The fifth wave of the new crown virus broke out, and there was a long queue at the testing point in Edinburgh Square in Central on February 7.
(Photo by O Jiale)
"Dynamic reset" is "demonized"
"'Dynamic clearing' is not the pursuit of 'zero infection', but my country's general policy of normalizing epidemic prevention and control under the general strategy of 'preventing imports from abroad and preventing rebound from within'. Precise control and effective treatment will ensure that the epidemic does not constitute continuous community transmission, and protect people's lives, health and economic and social development." - Although Chief Executive Carrie Lam once said that she could not clearly explain what "dynamic clearing" means, the official mainland media "People's Daily" A signed commentary published by the Daily yesterday (February 7), ""Dynamic Clearing is a Scientific Choice for Hong Kong to Fight the Epidemic", gave such a simple and easy-to-understand explanation, emphasizing that behind this set of policies "embodies the supremacy of the people, The anti-epidemic philosophy of putting life first has also been proven in practice to achieve maximum results at the lowest cost.” He also pointed out that the risk of importing from outside Hong Kong is relatively high. In order to prevent the medical system from collapsing, a proactive “dynamic clearing” strategy must be adopted to reduce the incidence of disease. , severe disease and mortality.
The new crown virus has been raging around the world for two years, and various countries and regions continue to face the problem of how to prevent and control the epidemic with higher standards, less cost, and shorter time.
In the face of waves of mutant virus strains, limited by factors such as virus spread, government prestige, social mobilization, economic level, testing strength, medical burden, and the degree of national cooperation, more and more countries have given up "dynamic clearing" and instead Select "Coexist with Virus".
Some of them have weighed medical resiliency like Singapore, but more like the United States, where 78 million people have been infected and 920,000 people have died, and they have no choice but to coexist.
Although many people are reluctant to admit it, judging from the anti-epidemic performance of countries around the world, China, which focuses on "dynamic clearing", has indeed done the best, but it has also attracted a lot of infamy for exalting "liberalism".
For example, the New York Times in the United States once compared the anti-epidemic performance from Xi'an to the whole country to the Nazi Holocaust, and even described the Chinese people who actively fought the epidemic as committing a collective "banal evil".
Lu Di, a professor at the Department of Economics, SOAS, University of London, recently (February 4) published an article "The Light and Heavy of Anti-epidemic Politics" in an attempt to summarize the "logic" of those criticizing "dynamic clearing": First, the virus itself It is unavoidable, and with the formation of herd immunity, there is no need to avoid it too much; secondly, when countries around the world choose to "coexist with the virus", China's "dynamic reset" is not only impossible to succeed, but may even reach its peak due to lack of natural infection. In the end, "dynamic zeroing" is costly and will wreak havoc on the Chinese and world economies.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced in August last year that it would enter a "coexistence with the virus" mode. Three months later, a total of 130,000 new cases have been added in the local area, and the death toll has surged from 42 to 506.
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"Coexisting with the virus" is extremely irresponsible at this stage
However, Lu Di then refuted the above statement one by one.
A key reason is that while the danger of the epidemic is increasing, the mainland's precise anti-epidemic measures are also constantly improving. Therefore, whether the cost of anti-epidemic will exceed the limit that the society can bear, or whether the "dynamic clearing" will be caused by the West. It is too early to say that the country will give up the fight against the epidemic and face failure.
Lu Di also criticized that it is extremely dangerous and irresponsible to give up the fight against the epidemic at this stage: first, the vaccine defense line may not be reliable, once a breakthrough can only be faced with the cruel "survival of the fittest"; second, even if the severe and fatal rate It is relatively low, but because the base of mild cases is large, it will inevitably become a hotbed of virus mutation, and even run on medical resources; third, the global vaccine ration is extremely unbalanced. When developed countries with higher vaccination rates give up fighting the epidemic, it is equivalent to extremely selfish Putting the underdeveloped countries at risk will cause the virus to mutate and bring about the boomerang effect. Fourth, the sequelae of the mildly ill are not yet clear, and the long-term impact of the vaccine on the body has yet to be confirmed, which still poses a certain risk to society. .
After the "Sino-US trade war" initiated by former US President Donald Trump, the world has undoubtedly entered another "new cold war" pattern of "binary confrontation". Western powers led by the United States have especially strengthened the "demonization" of China Fictions such as "persistent clearing is for the leader's face", "persistent clearing is needed for political propaganda" and so on.
But in fact, the country has not fallen into "zero fetishism", as Lu Di said, "If the toxicity of the new coronavirus has really been reduced to the level of influenza, then the world will not pursue zero, and China will also No, at most, dynamic clearing will be used to gain time to develop and inoculate effective vaccines, and to transition safely to coexistence with the virus.”
The ever-increasing number of patients will even break down the medical system, making the previous anti-epidemic achievements to naught.
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"Unless Hong Kong society thinks none of these matters"
In the foreseeable future, it is believed that the country will continue to observe the world's anti-epidemic performance and adjust its response policies in a timely manner. In Hong Kong, where the fifth wave of the epidemic is out of control, if the "dynamic reset" is rashly abandoned at this stage, the consequences may be unimaginable.
Many people say that Hong Kong's city size, level of development and medical capabilities are similar to Singapore's. Since Singapore can "coexist with the virus", Hong Kong should follow the example.
However, can Hong Kong really afford the price of "coexistence"?
With the two-shot vaccination rate exceeding 80%, Singapore will gradually open up its economic, social and tourism activities in four stages starting from August 2021. Previously, the daily number of confirmed cases in Singapore was less than 1,000, and most of them were imported cases. But three months later, a total of 130,000 new cases have been added, and the death toll has surged to 506 from 42. So far, a total of 390,000 people have been infected and 868 people have died.
Singapore is not the only country that chooses to "coexist with the new crown". Many countries such as South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Australia have all entered the "coexistence" mode of treating the new crown as the flu. However, all of the epidemics have rebounded strongly.
More importantly, the mortality and severe rates of influenza are incomparable with the new coronavirus, which can reach 2%. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the cumulative number of deaths in the United States may increase to 92.3 before February 19. 10,000 to 979,000.
If Hong Kong chooses to "lie down", the confirmed rate of 2,700 residents of Yat Kwai House in Kwai Chung Village alone is 9%, and as many as 675,000 of the 7.5 million people in Hong Kong will be infected. A large number of confirmed patients cannot be admitted to hospital for treatment. Once they are insufficiently supplied with oxygen, a large number of severe cases and deaths may occur.
As Chen Fuhe, an associate clinical professor of the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong, said on a radio program earlier: "There are many chronically ill and elderly people who have died after infection, and it is difficult for Hong Kong to reopen border crossings with the mainland or other places, unless the Hong Kong society believes that these are all problems. It doesn't matter, otherwise we shouldn't 'coexist' with the virus."