Opinion | Hong Kong is heading for coronavirus fatigue if ‘suppress and release’ policy is not reviewed

Name: Hong Kong eases Covid-19 curbs, tells customers to use contact-tracing app at reopened premises
Uploaded: 2021-02-27T13:00:05.000Z
Duration: 4 min 41 s
Description: Hong Kong eases Covid-19 curbs, tells customers to use contact-tracing app at reopened premises

The authorities should adopt a targeted approach instead of sticking to the all-enveloping measures drawn up when we weren’t sure how Covid-19 was spreading

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A boy looks wistfully at a cordoned-off playground in Kowloon City on April 25, 2020. Public playgrounds have been a casualty of the government’s coronavirus prevention measures. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Hari Kumar

Published: 9:00pm, 27 Feb 2021Updated: 9:00pm, 27 Feb 2021

The Hong Kong government has relaxed some of the restrictions imposed due to the fourth wave of Covid-19 as the number of new cases come down. Still some of the curbs imposed to reduce the risk of transmission, like gathering of large groups, remain in force.

It is understandable that, given Hong Kong is a densely populated city, we have to be alert to be one step ahead of the virus. But as we go past the one-year mark since such policies started, they are also having a telling effect on the economic and social life of the city’s residents.

When the disease began to spread in Hong Kong early last year, authorities drew up an action plan based on advice from health experts on ways to cut the transmission chain. Stepped-up hygiene, restrictions on gatherings, closure of businesses where people converged, work from home and online classes were introduced. And this worked remarkably well as the spread of Covid-19 virus was contained effectively.

But it came at a cost as businesses suffered and unemployment rates shot up, not to mention the rising stress levels due to these restrictions. The government stepped in with subsidies and financial help to lessen the pain to some extent.

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Hong Kong eases Covid-19 curbs, tells customers to use contact-tracing app at reopened premises

As the disease returned in a second, third and fourth wave, a “suppress and release policy” became the norm.