City Beat | Vaccination is the means, don’t forget the end goal of making Hong Kong Covid-safe for the economy to take off

Uncertainty over mutant strain, difficulties achieving ‘zero infection’ goal leave Hong Kong’s hoped-for economic rebound in limbo

If Hong Kong continues to be considered a high-risk destination for mainlanders visiting the city, and they will still have to go through quarantine upon returning home, the government’s plans will be put to the test

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People queue up for BioNTech Covid-19 jab at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre in Sai Ying Pun. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 5:43pm, 18 Apr 2021Updated: 8:46pm, 18 Apr 2021

Just when there seemed to be a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel in Hong Kong’s year-long fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, the shadow of uncertainty has returned.

The government expanded vaccine access to a wider population by lowering the eligibility age threshold from 30 to 16 years and was mulling a further relaxation of social-distancing rules, but the confirmation of the city’s first local case with the N501Y mutant strain over the weekend has raised a warning flag.

It could put the government’s travel bubble plan with Singapore, to be relaunched in mid-May after being suspended last November, up in the air again.

Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department officers take away a cat from a Jordan building where the first person to test positive in the community for a mutant coronavirus strain had stayed. Photo: May Tse

And a bigger issue is the likelihood of further delays to plans for resuming normal exchanges between Hong Kong and mainland China – the border shutdown since last March has profoundly affected economic activity and travel between the two sides.

To be fair, Hong Kong can confidently claim to be a low-risk destination compared with the likes of the United States and some other countries in Europe and Asia. But ironically, it remains on the mainland’s list of high-risk places since the city has yet to reach a state of “zero” local infections, the key precondition set by the mainland before quarantine-free, cross-boundary activities can resume.

The stringent requirement puts the Hong Kong government in a difficult position, too – and the change of tone from Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is telling enough.

The city so far has failed to convince the mainland side to consider reciprocal, quarantine-free travel if local infections can be brought down to a “very low” level. Lam, who once tried to seek help from Beijing, has now made it clear that she will not push for a border reopening by ignoring mainland people’s feelings.