Hong Kong Records Daily COVID-19 Infection Case, Carrie Lam Regrets Long Queues

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam. (Wikimedia Commons/RISE)

JAKARTA - Hong Kong Authority Leader Carrie Lam said she was deeply sorry and worried that her citizens had waited too long to get tested for COVID-19 or enter isolation facilities, after a record number of cases of coronavirus infection.

Hong Kong saw a doubling of its daily COVID-19 infection rate, leading to a record 1,161 cases on Wednesday as authorities struggle to battle a rapid spike that could pose the biggest test of its "zero dynamic" policy.

Writing on her official Facebook page late Wednesday, Lam said the Hong Kong Government was working hard to increase capacity, with the fast-spreading infection, engulfing places like nursing homes, the last thing she wanted to see.

"I firmly believe that everyone values our frontline medical staff, hopes to resume their normal daily lives, and wants to help Hong Kong emerge from the pandemic," he said.

Hong Kong has reported nearly 4,000 infections over the past two weeks, up from just two in December, taking its tally to more than 17,000 since the outbreak began in 2020, with 215 deaths. However, these figures are lower than other major cities in the world.

Authorities have responded with the toughest measures since the start of the pandemic, which is taking an increasing social and economic toll on the city's 7.5 million residents.

Hong Kong itself adheres to the strategy used by mainland China, to suppress all coronavirus outbreaks as soon as possible to eliminate the virus.

About 200,000 residents and visitors in Discovery Bay, an area home to many expats, were ordered to be tested for COVID-19, after the government said it detected the coronavirus in waste samples.

Huge crowds thronged testing centers across the city, with some residents complaining they were more likely to get infected while waiting in line. Typically, thousands of residents are mandated each day to test whether they have been to an area where an infection was detected.

Carrie Lam said Hong Kong could not try to live with the virus, as much of the world did, as more than 50 per cent of the elderly had not been vaccinated.

To note, about 80 percent of the city's residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but many parents are sceptical. Meanwhile, two elderly patients in their 70s have died from the coronavirus, authorities said Wednesday.