Govt to send anti-epidemic kits to everyone: CE

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Saturday that the government will mobilise community groups to distribute anti-epidemic kits to all residents in Hong Kong this month.

The kits will include masks, rapid antigen test kits, and Chinese medicine, she said during her daily press conference on the pandemic.

The CE said while the government has been distributing such kits through various channels, not everyone in the city has been able to get one.

She said to make sure everyone would receive the anti-epidemic supplies is a big task, and community support is needed.

Lam said she had on Friday held an online meeting with around 130 community leaders, including representatives of NGOs, ethnic minorities and religious communities, and all welcomed the idea of handing out the kits this month.

The CE said due to the large number of Covid infections in the city earlier, the government had fallen behind in issuing kits to some Covid patients isolating at home. But she added that the situation has already improved in the past few days.

She also thanked civil servants, Hospital Authority staff and other workers providing public services for their contribution during the pandemic.

Lam noted that around 32,200 civil servants had contracted Covid-19 as of Monday, accounting for about 17 percent of staff in the civil service. But more than 70 percent of the infected staff have now returned to work, she said.

When asked why she had sent a letter to the International Business Committee (IBC) on Friday and whether it had come too late, the CE again stressed that she attaches great importance to Hong Kong’s status as an international city.

Media reports suggest that the CE had told the IBC – a body comprising more than a dozen foreign business chambers in the city – that it would take time for Hong Kong to resume international quarantine-free travel, but added that the government will review current flight bans to allow stranded Hong Kong residents to return.

Lam said she had been sending monthly reports to the international business and consular communities here to brief them on the SAR’s pandemic situation. She said she received some positive feedback from the business community after she had given them an additional, consolidated reply to their concerns over the SAR’s Covid policies on Friday.

“It is not a question of whether this is done fast enough or too late. This is part of my ongoing work as the Chief Executive to engage with important communities in Hong Kong,” she said.

“I know it is how very important for Hong Kong to succeed and survive as an international city, that we have to be connected with the outside world, we have to be attractive to overseas and mainland business communities to encourage them to invest in Hong Kong.”