Covid-19 is like the Ship of thesus, an ancient Greek philosophical proposition.
When the wood in a ship is gradually replaced until all the wood is not the original wood, is the ship still the same ship?
Likewise, COVID-19 is a rapidly changing virus, and although its name is still COVID-19, today's Omicron and the first-generation COVID-19 disease have changed in nature.
French writer Albert Camus wrote in his masterpiece "The Plague": "Every one of us has a plague in our hearts; no one, no one in this world is immune." To eliminate the plague in our hearts, let life To return to normal, both government officials and ordinary people need to re-examine the nature of the new coronavirus and eliminate the gap between our past understanding of the virus and the current reality.
Three changes to the virus
On July 15, Yuan Guoyong, Chair Professor of the Department of Microbiology of the Hong Kong University of Epidemiology, Kong Fanyi, Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Professor of the Department of Internal Medicine, Long Zhenbang, Honorary Clinical Associate Professor of the Department of Microbiology, and Xue Da, Clinical Assistant Professor, wrote an article referring to Hong Kong's The epidemic has seen the following three changes:
First, COVID-19 has evolved into an endemic disease similar to influenza.
During the fifth wave, about 400 to 500 million people in Hong Kong were infected.
At the same time, more than 90% of Hong Kong's population has been vaccinated with two shots.
These two factors enable Hong Kong to form a protective barrier of herd immunity, keeping the mortality rate between 0.1 and 0.2 percent.
Second, the symptoms of the new variant virus have gradually become milder.
Although recovered patients who have been diagnosed with Omicron may still be infected with other variant branches (BA.2, BA2.12, BA2.75, BA.4, BA. 5), the symptoms are relatively mild.
Third, COVID-19 is no longer an incurable disease, and we have sufficient antiviral drugs to prevent the disease from getting worse.
In addition, the booster for omicron has entered the clinical trial stage and is expected to be available to the public by the end of the year.
In his speech on July 1, President Xi Jinping mentioned: "Hong Kong has a distinct advantage of being backed by the motherland and connected to the world. Hong Kong residents cherish it very much, and the central government also cherishes it." A major factor in its role as an important bridge and window with other parts of the world is the anti-epidemic policy of external importation.
The foreign import prevention policy assumes that there are high-risk pathogens outside, so border control measures need to be strengthened to prevent the virus from infecting local people.
However, the global new coronary pneumonia virus branch does not have a super virus (varient of high consequence) that spreads at an alarming rate and has a high fatality rate.
The current strict control measures are gradually burning Hong Kong's international status at the expense of the tourism, catering and retail industries.
Weigh three aspects
Epidemic prevention and control is the first battle for Hong Kong to recover from governance.
The Hong Kong government needs to balance the three aspects in order to grasp the key to prevention and control.
First, citizen health and economic development.
At the beginning of the epidemic, in the absence of vaccines and effective drugs, the government's primary goal was to protect citizens from infection and avoid a run on medical resources.
On the contrary, with a high vaccination rate and adequate treatment drugs, epidemic prevention and control has become an economic defense battle to ensure that the livelihood of ordinary people is protected as the risk of an international economic recession continues to increase.
The ensuing social distancing measures have eroded the retail industry.
Recently, the famous store Cartier renewed its contract and required frontline employees to reduce their wages; Chow Tai Fook abandoned the lease of Causeway Bay Shop King due to a 80% drop in business volume, all of which are examples of the decline of the service industry.
Some companies fail and cannot recover in a short period of time, and some can only remain in the memory forever.
One example is the Jumbo Seafood Restaurant that leaves Hong Kong.
Although the consumption coupons have achieved remarkable results, the long-term poverty is difficult to bear, and the government needs to actively open up border controls to bring Hong Kong's service industry back to the right track.
Second, individual liberty and government power.
This administration's determination to ease border controls is obvious to all.
Recently, the newly appointed Director of the Medical and Health Bureau, Dr. Lo Chongmao, actively promoted the "red and yellow code", in order to relax the quarantine measures for people arriving in Hong Kong before November.
It is a pity that Hong Kong society is still grumpy about the "red and yellow code".
In fact, conflicts between government power and individual freedom have occurred all over the world due to the prevention and control of the epidemic.
For example, in January this year, more than 100,000 marches broke out in France due to the implementation of vaccine passports.
On the other hand, Canada has also sparked large-scale protests over the mandatory vaccination of cross-border truck drivers.
It is undeniable that the prevention and control of the epidemic requires the use of public power, but the government cannot underestimate the dissatisfaction of the public and forcibly promote policies. Even if the starting point is reasonable, these measures will still destroy Hong Kong's hard-won stability.
In the past week, the government has cooled the controversy over the "red and yellow code" real-name system, which reflects the new governance team's cooperation and emphasis on public opinion.
Since the public's response to the "red-yellow code" has been quite large, the government can strengthen the publicity that the "red-yellow code" is a short-term measure, emphasizing that it will be cancelled after the epidemic, and also consider the opinions of parliamentarians and anti-epidemic experts from a technical perspective, so as to provide a short-term measure. Cancel the vaccine pass instead.
Third, internal customs clearance and external customs clearance.
Internal customs clearance and external customs clearance are not necessarily opposed in nature, because the two can be carried out at the same time.
As Secretary Lo Chongmao mentioned on July 14, under the principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong enjoys a wide range of freedoms, and the central government will not blindly require Hong Kong to follow the mainland's epidemic prevention policies.
Hong Kong should not blindly imitate the mainland's practice out of fear of not being able to clear customs with the mainland, regardless of its own social situation.
In addition, the dominance of internal customs clearance does not lie with the Hong Kong government.
At present, Hong Kong residents can be exempted from the compulsory quarantine arrangement as long as they successfully make an appointment for the "Easy Return to Hong Kong" quota and hold a valid certificate of negative nucleic acid test results obtained on the day of entry or within three days before the day of entry when entering Hong Kong.
This measure is actually the most lenient measure that the Hong Kong government can currently tolerate.
It is a positive and pragmatic approach by the current government to relax customs clearance to the outside world under the jurisdiction of the SAR, while maintaining coordination and communication with the mainland government.
In fact, maintaining the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong and maintaining convenient international connections are in line with the country's overall development strategy.
As an important node of the Belt and Road, Hong Kong shoulders the mission of linking the motherland and the countries of the Belt and Road in trade, capital, and popular support.
If the Hong Kong government maintains strict border control measures and surrounds Hong Kong like an isolated island, the 14th Five-Year Plan will be handed over to Hong Kong for the tasks of eight major centers (namely, an international financial center, an international shipping center, an international commercial and trade center, and international legal and legal services in the Asia-Pacific region. Dispute Resolution Service Center, International Aviation Hub Center, International Innovation and Technology Center, Regional Intellectual Property Trade Center, Sino-Foreign Cultural and Art Exchange Center), where to start?
In addition, the international situation is strange and unpredictable, and the international community is more hostile to China than ever before.
The United Kingdom's MI6 has listed China as a top intelligence target, and the United States has continued to point fingers on Hong Kong affairs, maintaining the highest level of travel warnings for Hong Kong, and calling on citizens not to live there.
Under the ever-changing situation, Hong Kong has no room for waste.
Only by re-opening to the outside world and opening up the flow of people and logistics can we further develop the Belt and Road market, seize the opportunities of the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership" and other opportunities in the era of China's rise, and make epoch-making contributions to the development of the country.
Remove the plague from everyone's heart
"Being used to a situation of despair is worse than the situation of despair itself." (Camus, "The Plague") The Hong Kong government must show the spirit of "dare to be the first in the world, dare to be a trendsetter", re-examine the epidemic, and eliminate everyone The fear of the epidemic in my heart, because this fear itself is more terrible than the epidemic.
In terms of specific plans, different parliamentarians and experts have proposed "5+2", "3+4", "0+7" and other plans respectively.
Professor Yuan Guoyong proposed that passengers arriving in Hong Kong should undergo five nucleic acid tests on the first three days and the tenth day after arriving in Hong Kong, and at the same time, they also requested to do rapid tests every day.
In addition, travelers are also required to wear wristbands and undergo a seven-day home quarantine.
During the quarantine period, travelers' vaccine passes will be temporarily cancelled to prevent travelers from entering high-risk places such as restaurants and bars.
It is believed that these recommendations will be discussed in the Expert Committee.
Regardless of the final plan, the government needs to consider the epidemic situation in Hong Kong and the international competitiveness of border control measures to maintain Hong Kong's international status.
On the other hand, the government needs to continue to reduce the impact of open border controls on high-risk groups.
Preventing large-scale outbreaks in institutions like the fifth wave is the top priority in preventing a run on medical resources.
Apart from strengthening the third vaccination for the elderly, the Government should also strengthen the infection control work in residential care homes for the elderly.
The Licensing and Supervision Office of the SWD should formulate a special operation within a short period of time like the post-SARS outbreak. Together with the Infection Control Division of the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health and the elderly health centres in various districts, they should inspect all residential care homes for the elderly in Hong Kong within three months to check for infection. Control contingency plans and equipment; at the same time, train staff and strengthen the habit of wearing masks among residents.
In addition, the Bureau of Labor and Welfare can also use the voucher fund to allow residential homes to apply for funds to purchase medical-grade air purifiers (eg: IQair purifier) and floor-mounted UV disinfection lamps, so that residential homes have sufficient capacity to disinfect the space used by confirmed patients.
The Labour and Welfare Bureau can also set up a six-month pilot scheme for residential care homes to apply.
Let the contract cleaning company follow the practice of the hospital and enter the hospital every three days to clean the high touch areas. This can not only prevent infection in the elderly home, but also share the work of frontline staff.
Once a confirmed case occurs, the government should transfer the confirmed case to a dedicated isolation facility for the elderly within the same day.
Under the leadership of Chief Executive Li Jiachao, we believe that Hong Kong will be able to successfully fight the first battle of governance and prosperity - the post-epidemic economic defense battle.
Shi Zhongjian and
a group of post-90s generation who have hope for Hong Kong's future believe that Hong Kong must fundamentally improve its own governance in order to maintain its unique position in global politics and the rise of China, and bring "one country, two systems" back on track