HKSAR chief executive Carrie Lam holds a press briefing on February 22, 2022, announcing that Hong Kong will launch mandatory mass nucleic acid testing in March for its residents, who are expected to receive COVID-19 tests three times within the period. Photo: VCG

The fifth COVID-19 wave is hitting Hong Kong. On Wednesday, the city's health authorities confirmed a new daily record of 8,674 infections. A day before, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government announced that all residents will be required to undergo three rounds of mandatory nucleic acid testing in March.

However, some Western voices try to doubt and even discredit the necessity of adopting such a strict COVID-19 strategy in Hong Kong. Do they want Hongkongers to go through the same tragedy that people in the West are experiencing now?

Some, like the New York Times, accused the policy local government adopted as too  "aggressive."

Some didn't miss this opportunity to smear China. Fox News host Laura Ingraham, when mentioning the mandatory mass testing in Hong Kong, tweeted that "Just a reminder that China has crushed all freedom in Hong Kong and our elites do not care."

Their attempts to bash the HKSAR government's decision of mandatory mass testing go against the needs of people in Hong Kong. What the city needs right now is a solid epidemic prevention and control strategy.

Take a look at the trend of Hong Kong's daily confirmed new cases, you will see a terrifying curve that started rising steeply days ago. In the words of Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, the epidemic figure in Hong Kong is somewhat "Americanized" - in other words, on its way to become almost as bad as in the US. This just confirms how terrible the situation is in Hong Kong.

As the Omicron variant rages, Hong Kong is on the verge of experiencing a severe lack of medical resources. As nobody wants to be caught up in such a disaster, there is nothing wrong with adopting a strict policy in COVID-19 prevention and control.

The policy was also proven necessary by medical experts. For instance, specialists from Hong Kong have applauded the local government's decision to conduct mass testing in a recent interview with the Global Times.

Li argues that despite the number growing rapidly like the US, Hong Kong cannot "lay flat" as the US, the cost of which will be heavy.

There is an evil intention behind criticism from some in the West on Hong Kong's COVID-19 strategy: It aims to undermine China's image and successful model of epidemic prevention and control. "By putting the cart before the horse, these forces completely confuse the priorities in the fight against the epidemic," Li said.

Facing a strict COVID-19 strategy, some residents in Hong Kong have raised questions and concerns about quarantine facilities or even the possibility of a city lockdown. But since many other regions in China have accumulated rich and useful experience in epidemic prevention and control, it is expected that Hong Kong can learn something from them and abate discontent as much as possible.

Hongkongers, some elites in particular, also have to make some changes to understand and cooperate with the local government's decision. "They may feel not very comfortable with some of the strict policies, but need to know that the lives and public health are more important," Li noted.