Opinion | Hong Kong fourth wave: time and trust in short supply for Carrie Lam’s government to rein in coronavirus
- After some early successes, the Hong Kong government is struggling to balance public health, the economic impact and social acceptance in its pandemic response
- It cannot muster the capacity to fight the virus without the public on its side, but if it fails to contain the pandemic, public support will dwindle further
In contrast, US President Donald Trump might have won his second term if not for his dismal Covid-19 performance. Brad Parscale, a campaign adviser, reportedly told him, “Sir, regardless, this [coronavirus] is coming. It’s the only thing that could take down your presidency.” And it did.
Learning from the bitter lesson of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak in 2003, Hong Kong has displayed community-wide crisis awareness and speedy emergency response. Government efforts have improved, with better coordination of the public and private sectors.
Both the government and public health system are largely efficient, yet the administration has not received full credit for its arduous task. Crisis leadership has been hampered by low public trust, making it hard to enact more coercive and contentious measures.
03:38
Departures for mainland China increase amid Hong Kong’s fourth wave of Covid-19 infections