Carrie's Quarantine Hell

Lam plays hardball extending hotel quarantine to 21 days

 

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor gave residents a lump of coal just a few hours before Christmas Day -- that any Hongkonger returning to the city will have to quarantine in a hotel for not 14 days, but 21 days. 

The bombshell was announced just before midnight, not giving anyone a chance to try to come back as soon as possible, which infuriated lots of people who were about to come back or were about to leave Hong Kong and cancelled their plans.

Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, who advises the government on the pandemic, said this latest move was necessary to ensure undetected infections would not spread among local households.

Travelers were angered by quarantine time

"Tight border control is very important," he said.

The Chinese University respiratory medicine expert said the government also had the option to further raise quarantine to 28 days, but was unlikely to be used for long, even if introduced.

Nevertheless, the knock-on effect was immediate, with designated quarantine hotels benefiting from travelers coming back in the next days and weeks having to stay for three weeks, but will miss out on future business of those who were about to leave Hong Kong and cancelled their trips altogether.

Those impacted are not happy with the extra cost, while those stuck in the UK and South Africa will not be coming back to Hong Kong anytime soon. And when they do return, they will probably have to quarantine for three weeks on top of that.

Many in the UK are parents who thought they were smart to go visit their children instead of them coming back to Hong Kong, and now the fathers and mothers are desperate to return.

Tung and Leung are active critics of Lam

They should know especially in this fourth wave that the situation is changing rapidly not just in Hong Kong but around the world, that it is better to stay put than risk traveling.

But perhaps the main reason for this severe measure is pressure from Beijing or the pro-establishment camp on Lam to be more effective in battling the coronavirus pandemic.

She's recently received a lot of flak from former chief executives Tung Chee-hwa and Leung Chun-ying, both have no qualms openly criticizing her, which was previously considered a no-no -- they are supposed to support her policies.

In addition, the liaison office has been uncharacteristically quiet, neither defending nor attacking Lam; some China watchers think the liaison office is waiting to see to see how effective these criticisms are before stepping in, or seeing how far these critics can further humiliate Lam.

Either way it's probably a sign that Lam will be a one-term chief executive, which will be a relief on all sides.

But who who will replace her? Who dares to take on such a divided city? It's definitely not for the faint-hearted...