Hong Kong, China Still Hanging Onto Zero-Covid

Use of the Leave Home Safe app may not last much longer

Hong Kong may soon take another step forward to becoming "normal" when it ends the use of the Leave Home Safe app, which contained the user's vaccination record as well as every place they went to provided they scanned QR codes at each location.

The announcement was made by Undersecretary for Health Libby Lee Ha-yun on Friday, a day after the government announced infected residents and close contacts would be quarantined for five days instead of seven.

"Hong Kong is on the path to normality. We don't want to roll back measures. Residents will not need to use the 'Leave Home Safe' app and vaccine pass eventually. It is just a matter of time."

Lee admits the app isn't used to track infections

She even admitted the government rarely used the app to track contacts of Covid-19 patients as infections surged. But Lee also stressed social-distancing measures could not be relaxed yet with the increased number of infected cases.

However, her superior, Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said the app would not be cancelled anytime soon even though Beijing began easing restrictions, including not needing a negative test to use public transport.

"The health code system on the mainland is nothing like our 'Leave Home Safe' app and vaccine pass scheme," he said. "We won't simply cancel these measures because the mainland did so.

"These measures have played an important role in controlling the pandemic, especially the vaccine pass scheme. It's the reason why we have a high vaccination rate."

Perhaps it's because people need to eat and shop so they have no choice but to use the app?

Lo says app won't be given up just yet

While Beijing has probably eased restrictions in Hong Kong to use it as a guinea pig to see what would happen, China has started to loosen up -- just a tiny bit -- but it has a long way to go.

The country still can't afford to open up right away, which is why there are projections China may open up as early as late 2023 or even early 2024. More people need to be vaccinated -- but with mRNA vaccines that Beijing still hasn't admitted to be used to inoculate its citizens.

In the meantime articles in state media are starting to talk about how being infected with the Covid-19 virus is nothing to be scared about, that one could be cured in hospital quite easily or even just several days rest at home.

But it's been drilled into Chinese people's heads that the virus and its variants are deadly and it will take some time before everyone is less paranoid about the coronavirus.

The Hong Kong and Chinese governments have used the Covid social-distancing measures and forced use of the Leave Home Safe app as a form of control, which they have effectively used for almost three years, but they aren't quite ready to completely relinquish it.

Zero-Covid is still the goal, and both authorities will drag things out as long as possible to justify the means to an end...