Aerial photo taken on March 12, 2022 shows the newly-built community isolation facility located in Fanling, south China's Hong Kong. The fourth community isolation facility (CIF) in Hong Kong constructed with the support from the China mainland has been put into operation after it was handed over to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government. The newly-built CIF provides over 350 rooms with more than 1,000 beds for emergency isolation. Photo:Xinhua

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will take more effective administrative measures to combat the COVID-19 outbreak and stabilize business confidence and employment, the financial secretary of the HKSAR wrote on Sunday.

The anti-epidemic work is an offensive and defensive battle to curb the spread of the virus, and it is also a battle of endurance, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po wrote in his weekly blog, adding that the HKSAR government will take more effective measures to minimize the social and economic impact.

The official noted that the HKSAR government is making every effort to stabilize the confidence of residents and businesses. "We will try our best to stabilize the economy and preserve employment. The epidemic is stubborn, but as long as all walks of life in Hong Kong work together, maintain a strong momentum, and do not relax or slack off, we will surely win the battle against the epidemic."

Chan also noted in his blog post on Sunday that no systemic risks were seen in the Hong Kong stock exchange despite volatility last week, adding that there was no outflow of funds, and the financial situation of securities companies was sufficient to deal with market risks.

Chan has previously warned that the city's GDP may contract in the first quarter of 2022, with higher unemployment due to the outbreak of COVID-19, while expressing confidence in the future of Hong Kong's economy, bolstered by the steady growth of the national economy and its sound long-term fundamentals.

The comments came amid a severe surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the HKSAR. Official data showed on Sunday that a total of 14,149 new confirmed cases and 246 new deaths were reported on Saturday. The latest wave of the epidemic in Hong Kong has infected more than 1.03 million people. 

Addressing a daily press conference on anti-epidemic measures on Saturday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said that the HKSAR government has distributed hundreds of thousands of anti-epidemic supply kits to residents in areas with higher numbers of positive cases of COVID-19 since early March, while the Home Affairs Department of the HKSAR government has distributed 4 million rapid antigen test kits to the public.

The HKSAR government has distributed medical supplies provided by the central government to the public through different channels, including several hundred thousand boxes of anti-epidemic traditional Chinese medicines, Lam added.