Carrie's Impromptu Press Conference

Lam gathers media to tell them she is transparent

The media in Hong Kong were alerted to the Chief Executive holding a press conference in 90 minutes.

What was she going to talk about?

When reporters assembled and waited for Lam to come out at 2.30pm, it was about Covid-19. 

"Since the daily positive confirmed cases have escalated to over 1,000, although I'm coming to the end of my term, I'm still shouldering the responsibilities to fight Covid-19," Lam said.

Farry shows squeezing his name on RAT

"So I chaired a high level, cross bureau meeting this morning together with the chief executive of the Hospital Authority, and in line with the spirit of transparency, I thought I should let you know the outcome of the discussion. So that's the purpose for holding this press conference." 

Really? That could have just merited a press release.

Meanwhile people are staying away from bars and nightclubs like the plague. That's because in order to enter these premises, patrons must conduct a rapid antigen test, some how scrawl their name and the date on it (within 24 hours), and take a photograph of it before showing it to the bar staff for entry.

Many are complaining about not having enough space to write their names on RATs which is totally understandable as no one thought of that beforehand.

When it came to schools, there are infections here and there, but not enough to merit a full school shut down.

Lam said that since schools had their holidays in the spring, they won't get another break this summer. Talk about students going to school endlessly. But perhaps it's better than learning online...

As many of the clusters are from large gatherings, she has cancelled the upcoming Legislative Council farewell lunch on June 21 -- did lawmakers want to eat with her anyway?! -- and has suggested that families not have large gatherings for the upcoming Father's Day.

Talk about putting a spoiler on weekend plans.

25th anniversary banquet supposedly going ahead

However -- when asked if the 25th anniversary banquet will go ahead, Lam seemed to indicate it would, which is why the government cannot ban multi-household gatherings without being hypocrites.

So she is not outright banning gatherings, but strongly suggesting people wear masks as soon as they finish eating, not participate in big gatherings, and remain vigilant.

She wants to look like she is concerned about the issue, and yet she cannot act too paranoid because a supposed banquet may happen in two weeks and so she can't ban large gatherings, like the one on July 1.

Neither did she indicate Beijing officials would not want to come to Hong Kong if the number of cases exceeded 1,000 when the zero-Covid strategy is taken literally.

What exactly is Lam trying to achieve here? Telling others to cut down on their gatherings so that she can have her big bash on July1? 

Definitely sounds like one city, two systems...