Carrie Lam file photo:VCG

In her last Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Carrie Lam vowed to make every effort to control the local epidemic and create favorable conditions for leaders from the central government to visit, ahead of the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.

Although there are many voices from the society including from chambers of commerce and financial institutions asking for relaxation of control measures, such as reducing quarantine length and virus screening tests in hotels, Lam said at the press briefing, noting that the SAR government has insisted on following strict epidemic prevention rules. 

For this, she has explained to foreign chambers of commerce and consuls general in person, stressing the need to be cautious, local media reports said.

In terms of efforts in preventing the virus from spreading among local communities, Hong Kong is seeing stabilized indicators in aspects of hospital admissions, mortality rate, and critical cares, despite a rebound in daily increase of infections. The overall epidemic situation is controllable, Lam said. 

Ahead of the Executive Council meeting, Lam noted some changes in the past two weeks in Hong Kong's epidemic situation, which is a cause for concern, RTHK reported. 

A number of indicators were observed to be on the rise, including viral reproduction rate which has exceeded 2. However, the number of hospitalizations at public hospitals remained below 400 as of Monday, with the vast majority in mild or no symptoms and 22 in critical condition. The situation does not impose unbearable pressure on public hospitals, she said.

Lam added at the press briefing that the third stage relaxation of social distancing measures will not be promoted so as to better control the epidemic, and law enforcement will be strengthened, making every effort to carry out vaccination education.

She reiterated that no relaxation will be granted before the end of the month. 

A relaxed and pleasant social environment should also be created for the central government leaders' visit, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, Lam said.  

The exact time of the visit was not revealed at the press conference. 

A number of events in various fields have been arranged to celebrate the grand anniversary. The Hong Kong police force said on Monday that they are evaluating the security risks concerning the events and will make sure enough forces are in place to safeguard people's safety. 

The police will also hold a series of activities with the hope of introducing police work through interaction with the public. They plan to launch a documentary in July to demonstrate the determination to protect the people of Hong Kong, and hold a charity concert. 

Global Times