Transcript of remarks by CE at media session before ExCo (with video)
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Reporter: Good morning. Is the Government considering a change in the quarantine measure to a "0+7" in November when international events such as the Rugby Sevens (Hong Kong Sevens) and the summit (Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit) are held? And also, COVID cases have exceeded 10 000 for several days, and in light of the situation, will classes be suspended and will social distancing rules be tightened as well? And also, Hong Kong Committee on Children's Rights has earlier expressed concerns for children's rights and welfare because unvaccinated children will be banned soon from entering premises like restaurants, swimming pools and libraries because the Government will extend the Vaccine Pass to children as young as five, so what do you think about this? Thank you.
Chief Executive: In the anti-COVID strategy that this Government is contemplating and enforcing, we take into consideration five principles, which I have been explaining every now and then, I reiterate them. First of all, we will not "lie flat". We'll be striving to reduce the number of infected cases so as to ensure that our medical service can cope. The second is, we will try to reduce serious cases and death cases. We will strive to protect the high-risk groups including the very old and the very young, and also those who have chronic diseases. And, we will be enforcing measures using methods of precision so as to differentiate people into different risk groups, and design the measures according to different levels of risks. We will also balance the risks against the need for normal social activities and economic activities. Based on all these factors, we will design our measures.
In regard to what we will do in future months, as regards the number of quarantine days, we will have to assess it based on the number of infected cases and how the transmission will be happening. We will have to make assessment and when we make the assessment and come to a conclusion, of course, we'll make an announcement.
I have said that that one of the main principles is to protect the very young because just this month, we have about 20 cases of children suffering from serious conditions as a result of the infection. Unfortunately, one actually passed away. We don't want to see that happen because losing such a life, the family is very sad and it is a horrific experience. The best protection, according to experts who unanimously agreed in my panel (the COVID-19 Expert Advisory Panel), is that vaccination is the best way to protect people from their disease getting into serious condition or death.
I urge everyone to get vaccinated. The purpose of vaccination is to protect the children from getting into dire situations which we don't want to see, and it is important that people know the importance of vaccination. If anybody who has medical reasons that they cannot get the vaccination, then of course, it will be accepted. But we should very objectively and scientifically look at the evidence. All the evidence has indicated that the best protection from getting serious, or even getting dire, is to get vaccination. I've got unanimous agreement in the panel of experts, so we should all go for vaccination as soon as possible and don't wait. That's the best way to protect our children.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Tuesday, September 6, 2022
Issued at HKT 13:46
Issued at HKT 13:46
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Audio / Video
CE meets the media