China might implement zero-Covid policy in Hong Kong if surge in cases don't reduce: Report

Covid-19 watchers in Hong Kong are worried that the island may be asked to pass the "Covid loyalty" test if the cases do not reduce in the coming week, The Hong Kong (HK) Post reported. 

Ever since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2019, China has been implementing a "zero-COVID" policy, which has resulted in growing public frustration and anger. The media reported how cities and towns in China turned into ghost towns overnight as party officials and health authorities, along with security forces, forced citizens into a strict quarantine, with people worried even about basics like milk and bread, The HK Post reported.

It further reported that millions of people were asked to get themselves tested repeatedly and there was no question of lifting the quarantine until all the millions tested negative. Meanwhile, Hong Kong is still a bustling metropolis. The government has decided against a strict lockdown. For, given the island's status as a financial and trading hub, a lockdown will cripple the economy within days and wipe out businesses worth billions of dollars, The HK Post reported. 

So, the hospitals are caught in an unprecedented frenzy. They are weighed down by uncontrollable numbers of people trying to get admitted. 

According to The HK Post, the authorities have tried the next best thing to a general lockdown - micro-lockdowns of streets or buildings or gated communities. But it is not working. 

The HK Post further reported that things have become alarmist because after a gap of five months with no death reported, suddenly the island city has witnessed dozens of deaths within a week. Omicron being a highly transmissible variant, there is no saying when and how the positivity rate will be reined in.