HONG KONG, Feb 20 — As Hong Kong battles a surge in coronavirus cases, city authorities said they are ramping up the provision of community isolation and treatment units helped by mainland construction teams, including the reprovisioning of a cruise ship terminal.
With a reported 6,063 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, the government said in a statement late yesterday that the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal would be turned into a dedicated Covid facility with 1,000 beds to mitigate overburdened public hospitals. Hong Kong’s embattled leader Carrie Lam, who attended a ground-breaking ceremony at a construction site for 10,000 Covid-19 units at Penny’s Bay close to the city’s Disneyland resort, said she hoped the initiatives would “significantly enhance” the financial hub’s anti-epidemic capacity.Some experts and critics say Hong Kong’s “dynamic zero-Covid” policies, mirroring those in mainland China, have contributed to current woes and are unsustainable, experts say.
The chief executive election, initially scheduled for March, will be postponed to May, adding to uncertainty about the former British colony’s future as Beijing imposes its rule.