CE meets with Mainland epidemic prevention and control experts
20.4.2022

​The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (April 20) met with the Director of the National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Mr Kan Biao, together with members of the Mainland epidemic prevention and control expert delegation led by him, who visited Hong Kong to support the anti-COVID-19 epidemic work of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). She listened to the delegation's views after their days of visits covering various fronts of the HKSAR's anti-epidemic fight. The Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan; the Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam; the Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority (HA), Dr Tony Ko; and other officials also attended the meeting. Mrs Lam expressed her gratitude to the Mainland expert delegation led by Mr Kan which had, over the past two weeks since their arrival in Hong Kong on April 7, been tirelessly meeting with members of the HKSAR's anti-epidemic team, including the relevant bureaux and departments of the HKSAR Government, the HA and a university, and conducting field visits to different facilities along the HKSAR's anti-epidemic chain, such as the airport, a sewage testing laboratory, a community testing station, residential care homes for the elderly and community health centres, as well as wet markets and a shopping mall with relatively large people flows. Mrs Lam said, "On behalf of the HKSAR, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Central Government for sending five batches of Mainland experts to Hong Kong since the onset of the fifth wave of the epidemic. Having regard to Hong Kong's actual circumstances and epidemic development, the experts have offered objective and pragmatic views in such areas as epidemiology, clinical treatment and Chinese medicine to assist the HKSAR in implementing the strategy of 'three reductions, three focuses and one priority' in a full-fledged manner, namely: reducing infections, severe cases and deaths; adopting more precise, stronger and more targeted measures on certain groups of people, premises and areas; and according priority to supporting the elderly. "With the staunch support of the Central Government and the concerted efforts of different sectors of society, the HKSAR Government has considerably enhanced its handling capacities in different parts of the anti-epidemic chain. Hong Kong's fifth wave of the epidemic has shown a gradual downtrend after reaching the peak in early March, creating the necessary conditions for the resumption of face-to-face classes of schools starting this Tuesday (April 19) and the relaxation of social distancing measures in phases starting tomorrow (April 21). Nevertheless, the HKSAR Government will not let down its guard and will continue to steadfastly implement the strategy of guarding against the importation of cases and a resurgence of domestic infections, so that the community can ride out the epidemic early with risks duly managed, resuming normal activities in an orderly manner and boosting the economy." Ends/Wednesday, April 20, 2022 Issued at HKT 19:38 NNNN