Virus containment a challenge

March 27, 2020

Chief Executive Carrie Lam:

About returnees from overseas, the first question we need to answer is: do we allow them to come back? The answer has to be yes because these are Hong Kong residents. They enjoy the right to enter and exit Hong Kong under the Basic Law, which is a constitutional as well as a human right for the people of Hong Kong. So we have to enable them to come in.

Allowing them to come in but at the same time trying to contain the virus is a major challenge because all these Hong Kong people returning apparently are from highly infectious places. If you look at the numbers, I think Hong Kong students studying in the United Kingdom have already clocked up over 30 cases of confirmed cases. 

So the response is really to ask for their co-operation to subject themselves to the compulsory 14-day quarantine at home, to respect the monitoring measures that we have put in place, like the wristbands and the location-sharing service, and also to participate in the test that we have introduced.

Now, as far as Mainland arrivals, there are now very, very few Mainland arrivals after all these measures have been put in place. As far as Hubei returnees, according to the experts, their risk is much lower than the returnees from highly infectious places overseas. And we have to be very pragmatic and realistic.

All the things that we are now using in this anti-epidemic work are in short supply. Hospital beds, especially isolation beds, are in short supply. Quarantine centres are in short supply. Quarantine camps are in short supply. Medication perhaps sooner or later will be in short supply. Wristbands are in short supply. Staff are in short supply. 

We have to be very realistic and find a way forward in order to make the full use of our short supply of resources in order to achieve the objective on a sustainable basis because I don't know how long this will last, especially since we still have quite a large number of Hong Kong people coming back by air. 

We are as vigilant as we can be in ensuring that people coming back to Hong Kong will not cause more spread of the virus in Hong Kong.

(To watch the full media briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)

Allowing Hong Kong residents to return from highly infectious places while trying to contain the virus at the same time is a major challenge, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said today.

Speaking at a press conference, Mrs Lam said the Government must allow Hong Kong residents to return to the city.

“They enjoy the right to enter and exit Hong Kong under the Basic Law, which is a constitutional as well as a human right for the people of Hong Kong. So we have to enable them to come in.

“Allowing them to come in but at the same time trying to contain the virus is a major challenge because all these Hong Kong people returning apparently are from highly infectious places.

“So the response is really to ask for their co-operation to subject themselves to the compulsory 14-day quarantine at home, to respect the monitoring measures that we have put in place, like the wristbands and the location-sharing service, and also to participate in the test that we have introduced.”

The Chief Executive also emphasised that the Government has to be very pragmatic and realistic in the fight against the virus.

“All the things that we are now using in this anti-epidemic work are in short supply.

“We have to be very realistic and find a way forward in order to make the full use of our short supply of resources in order to achieve the objective on a sustainable basis because I don't know how long this will last, especially since we still have quite a large number of Hong Kong people coming back by air.

“We are as vigilant as we can be in ensuring that people coming back to Hong Kong will not cause more spread of the virus in Hong Kong.”