Dynamic Covid clearance has majority support: survey

Almost 70 percent of Hong Kong people support the government’s “dynamic clearance” strategy against the new wave of Covid-19 outbreaks, a survey has found.

The think tank Bauhinia Institute said it interviewed around a thousand people between January 24-28, and 68 percent of them believe it best suits society’s overall interests to adopt the “dynamic clearance strategy” – under which the government still expects to see local infections but would move swiftly to cut off community transmission chains.

Around 24 percent of the respondents would like to see social-distancing measures relaxed and “live with the virus”, while around 8 percent had no particular preference.

Meanwhile, the think tank said six out of 10 people thought current anti-infection and quarantine measures are unable to rein in the latest outbreaks quickly and effectively.

Seventy-five percent of the respondents think vaccination should be compulsory while more than half agree that the LeaveHomeSafe app should be equipped with stronger tracking functions.

The institute said the SAR government must use “more powerful” measures along with “more appropriate” relief measures to build a consensus for the entire community to commit to the “dynamic clearance” strategy against the coronavirus.