Photo taken on Aug. 1, 2020 shows the interior of a makeshift hospital for COVID-19 patients at the AsiaWorld-Expo in south China's Hong Kong. A makeshift hospital at the AsiaWorld-Expo, a venue near the Hong Kong International Airport, began receiving COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms since Saturday afternoon, Hong Kong's Hospital Authority (HA) said. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaochu)

For now, the most important task for the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is to control COVID-19, cut off the channel of transmission and reduce the number of infected people as soon as possible, Paul Chan Mo-Po, financial secretary of HKSAR, said Sunday.

Chan said that more than 100 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong have been reported daily for more than ten days. Starting from July, Hong Kong's COVID-19 cases have been increasing. Between July 8 and the end of July, Hong Kong reported 1,850 new confirmed cases, 40 percent higher than the cumulative 1,300 cases in the first half of this year.

It will be impossible to stabilize the economy if the epidemic is not effectively brought under control as soon as possible with the current situation, said Chan.

Hong Kong saw negative GDP growth of 9 percent in the second quarter following negative growth of 9.1 percent in the first quarter, said Chan. 

Hong Kong may face much more economic pressure in the third quarter amid surging COVID-19 cases, said Chan. 

Chan thanks the central government for its full support in personnel, materials and epidemic prevention work.  

Chen said Hong Kong needs to learn from the useful experience of the Chinese mainland in a bid to effectively control the epidemic, so that the public does not have to worry too much about the risk of infection and everyone can return to daily life, travel and work.

Global Times