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Coronavirus Hong Kong
OpinionComment
Adam Au
Adam Au

Opinion | Why Hong Kong’s Covid-19 health code is not some Faustian bargain

  • The new system won’t mean giving up all our rights to privacy in return for a shot at a normal life. And it is by no means a panacea for all our pandemic woes
  • But in a dynamic Covid-19 situation with few options left, a health code can help reduce transmission risks and aid economic recovery

Reading Time:4 minutes
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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Adam Au
Long before the government proposed introducing a health code system on a par with the mainland health codes, Hong Kong people were already accustomed to daily Covid-19 news. Now, save for face masks and travel restrictions, Hong Kong society seems to have largely returned to normal.
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Concerns have arisen over whether this announcement is a ploy to keep Hong Kong citizens under surveillance, a thinly veiled attempt by the new administration to ingratiate themselves with the mainland authorities, or a last-ditch effort to tackle a predicament fumbled by the previous administration.

These barbed arrows of criticism are understandable but not necessarily realistic. Many lament that Hong Kong has not followed others around the world in relaxing controls and opening borders. But what if our Covid-19 cases and death rates surge again?

As has been shown time and again, a sudden upswing in infections can overload tracing and testing capacity, resulting in delays in contact tracing, thus increasing transmissibility. The health code can help drive down transmission risks without causing system fatigue.

Many critics use the case of Macau as a rebuttal. Macau implemented a similar colour-coded system, yet saw a rise in cases that sparked a week of lockdown. Thus, there is a danger of an outbreak being blamed on an alleged system failure.
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But if such measures weren’t in place, any surge in infections would lead to criticism of the administration for not doing enough. Unfortunately, too many opinions purporting to reveal political conspiracies are conjured up in front of a computer screen.

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