Lam Closes More Borders, Healthcare Workers Want More

A few thousand public healthcare workers went on strike today, more tomorrow

True to their word, some 2,400 public hospital workers went on strike in Hong Kong today and they have plans to increase the number of strikers tomorrow following Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's response of closing some borders but not all.

At 5pm today, Lam and her senior officials gave a press conference where she announced closures of the Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau border crossings as well as the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal.

Carrie Lam announced more border closures this afternoon

However, the border check point at Shenzhen Bay remains open, as well as at Hong Kong International Airport and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

This was not what the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance demanded -- they wanted a complete shutdown of all border points with the mainland in order to stem or slowdown the flow of the coronavirus into Hong Kong. Even top infectious disease expert Dr Ho Pak-leung of the University of Hong Kong agreed with their demand.

At the press conference, reporters demanded Lam to explain why she still kept the three border points open, which constitute 60 percent of passenger traffic.

Lam -- who was not wearing a mask -- explained that six other checkpoints had closed earlier, reducing the number of mainlanders coming into the city. But because more than 100,000 people were still crossing the border on a daily basis, the government had to close Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau, which are easily accessible by rail.

The union says Lam's latest measures don't meet its demands

She hoped that now with only three remaining border points that they would make it less convenient for travelers and they would think twice about going to the mainland.

When reporters asked why not completely close the borders, Lam said China and Hong Kong had a special relationship, that it would be impossible to completely close off the border because children may have right of abode in Hong Kong while the parent didn't, people working on the mainland were commuting or living on the mainland and going to the city to work, and the need for food and other products to come here.

"These measures are consistent with the initiatives rolled out earlier," Lam said. "They are completely irrelevant to the strike."

However one cannot deny Lam was under immense pressure by not only the 15,000-strong union, but also the public, whose fears about the coronavirus are growing by the day, mostly thanks to the proliferation of news on social media, some of which are overblown or false.

Lam claims she did not bow to pressure from the union

The union also had concerns about having enough protective equipment to do their work properly and Lam said she would make sure healthcare workers were the first to receive these products.

"I completely understand that medical professionals have been on the forefront. I respect them, and we will do our utmost to supply them with protective gear. We agree with them on the need to reduce the cross-border flow... but at this critical juncture, I could not agree with the use of extreme means [such as going on strike]."

But following her press conference, the union members chanted slogans to continue their threat of more people striking tomorrow to put more pressure on the government to do more not only for them, but for the people of Hong Kong to feel safer from the threat of the coronavirus.

If the union manages to persuade Lam to completely shut the borders, that could be the impetus it needs to inspire a city-wide strike, something that was unsuccessful a few months ago during the anti-government protests.

Practically everyone is united in their wrath against their leader... maybe this time around, a city-wide strike may actually happen in the near future.

Stay tuned!

Healthcare Workers Vote to Strike

Health secretary Sophia Chan wipes tears during a radio show today

A newly formed union made up of doctors, nurses and hospital staff have voted overwhelmingly to strike starting on Monday to press the government to shut all border points with China in order to stem the possibility of more coronavirus cases in Hong Kong.

The pro-democracy Hospital Authority Employees Alliance voted 3,123 for the strike, 10 against and 23 abstained. Eight votes were invalid. The union has about 13,000 members, but many of them were unable to vote today because they were either working or not in Hong Kong.

The healthcare union voted overwhelmingly to strike Monday

This strike will be yet another headache for the Hong Kong government, which so far has done little to allay the public's fears. Which is perhaps why Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee broke down in tears before the vote while speaking on a radio show.

"I'm worried about the emotions of healthcare workers," said Chan, who paused for a few seconds to compose herself. "As well as our services."

She said her biggest concern was the safety of frontline healthcare staff.

"We must protect all our frontline workers," Chan said, noting that she understood they faced immense pressure.

So... how about meeting their demands and protecting them by closing the borders?

DAB's Starry Lee hands out masks to residents

Or has Chan begged Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to do this and she refused? Or is this a sign that Chan has failed in her job? Or are these crocodile tears in the hopes medical workers will feel sorry for her?

Regardless, the strike is going ahead, though it is unclear at this point how much services will be impacted and how many people will be participating, but it is important for them to show how serious they are about their demand, and at this point most of the public would probably support them too.

The government is not taking the coronavirus and its potential to spread seriously enough, leaving the public terrified and having to fend for themselves. They are so worried about not being able to secure enough masks that they have cleaned out supermarket shelves of everything from rice to vegetables to instant cup noodles, bread and vitamins to be locked down in their own flats for several days, maybe weeks.

Long lines to pick up masks from pro-Beijing political groups

Memories of SARS 17 years ago have not faded for Hongkongers, but perhaps for Lam and her ministers it's a distant past.

In order to salvage their political skins and garner some good will from voters, several pro-Beijing legislators handed out 80,000 free masks to people in Kowloon, though they were in ziplock bags, only a few in each bag. But will those grateful mask receivers vote for these pro-establishment politicians come November during the Legislative Council elections?

Even they are demanding that Lam close the borders and she hasn't listened to them either...