Xia Baolong urges Hong Kong officials to be courageous in taking on the role of the Hong Kong government: Firmly assume the main responsibility to fight the epidemic requires a legal basis

Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, presided over the seventh coordination meeting to support Hong Kong's anti-epidemic work in Beijing on March 3. He rarely pointed out his opinions severely on Hong Kong's anti-epidemic work, saying, "We must fully support the SAR government to further strengthen the effectiveness of anti-epidemic work. To make overall plans and effectively perform their main responsibilities, the responsible officials of the SAR government must have the courage to take responsibility, shoulder heavy responsibilities, play an organizational leadership role, and fulfill their inaugural oath with practical actions to fight the epidemic.”

The government spokesman emphasized that the SAR government will firmly assume the main responsibility of fighting the epidemic. Under the anti-epidemic mechanism led by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the heads of departments will continue to shoulder different anti-epidemic tasks to stabilize and control the epidemic as soon as possible.

A government spokesman said that under the anti-epidemic mechanism led by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the secretaries-general will continue to shoulder different anti-epidemic tasks to stabilize and control the epidemic as soon as possible.

(file picture)

The Expert Advisory Panel has held 27 meetings with the Chief Executive

The spokesman said that the Government promulgated the "Preparation and Response Plan for Novel Infectious Diseases of Public Health Significance" and the "Severe Response Level" under the activation plan as early as January 4, 2020 in response to the outbreak; Immediately after the infection was confirmed, it was upgraded to the highest "emergency response level" on January 25. The Chief Executive led an inter-departmental steering committee and command center to formulate response strategies and measures according to the development of the epidemic.

The spokesman pointed out that the contingency plan of the three-level contingency system was formulated by the SAR Government after learning from the experience of dealing with SARS in 2003, and it was applied in the subsequent cases of multiple infectious diseases in Hong Kong.

In order to strengthen the science-based anti-epidemic work, the Chief Executive appointed four experts on the same day to form an expert advisory group to provide advice to the SAR government in areas such as public health, epidemiology and clinical experience.

Over the past two years, in response to the development of each wave of the epidemic, the Steering Committee and Command Center has held 120 inter-departmental high-level meetings, and the Advisory Group has held 27 meetings with the Chief Executive since its establishment.

▼The situation in the emergency room of Queen Elizabeth Hospital on March 4▼

Emphasizes that every government measure must have a solid legal basis

The spokesman said that although the public health crisis is related to the safety of citizens' lives and every second counts, Hong Kong, as a society ruled by law, must have a solid legal basis for every measure taken by the SAR government.

The government incorporated the novel coronavirus into the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance (Chapter 599 of the Laws of Hong Kong) as early as January 2020 to provide a legal basis for future work.

Under this ordinance, the Executive Council has successively enacted a total of 10 specific regulations for the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic, covering entry and cross-boundary restrictions, provision of personal data, operation of premises, group gatherings, wearing masks, virus testing, vaccines Use and "Vaccine Pass" etc.

The Emergency Situations (Exemption from Statutory Requirements) (COVID-19) Regulation enacted by the Executive Council last month also provides a legal basis for the anti-epidemic measures provided by the Central Government to assist Hong Kong.

In response to the raging fifth wave of the epidemic and to ensure the effective implementation of the central government's support for Hong Kong's anti-epidemic measures, after the inter-departmental steering committee and command center's study and judgment, the Chief Executive assigned special tasks to individual directors, asking them to personally lead the relevant anti-epidemic work and mobilize their subordinates. Subordinate departments support and are accountable to the Chief Executive.

Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said, "Faced with the new wave of the outbreak and the rising number of confirmed cases, every measure taken by the SAR government is to protect the safety of citizens' lives, but the implementation is far beyond the SAR government's own capabilities. We sincerely Thanks to the central government for its kind care, we will make good use of the central government’s support, and the whole government will work together to continuously improve and implement the anti-epidemic measures, win the battle against the epidemic as soon as possible, and stabilize the overall situation of Hong Kong.”

Epidemic ｜ Vaccination rate finally reached 90% Nie Dequan: Focus on boosting the vaccination rate of "one old and one young" Sheung Shui slaughterhouse has been out of service for several days 38 mainland reinforcements have arrived in Hong Kong for several days without starting work for several days, MPs approve the lack of coordination and aid supplies to Hong Kong are arriving in succession41 Ten thousand oximeters were sent to the hospital to keep high-specification masks for national testing 01 News | Sun Chunlan "come"!

Deputy Prime Minister gives important instructions on Hong Kong's fight against the epidemic