Covid-19 Inquiry Welcome, but with Caveats

Many agree to an inquiry, but after the pandemic is over

After infectious diseases expert Yuen Kwok-yung pitched the idea of an independent inquiry into the Hong Kong government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, others are putting in their two bits as well.

Fellow experts David Hui Shu-cheong and Leung Chi-chiu agreed, but said the inquiry should start later.

Meanwhile professor Lau Yu-lung in the University of Hong Kong Paediatrics agrees in principle, and adds the inquiry should be headed by a judge and that it should start after the World Health Organisation declares the pandemic over.

Hui says inquiry should start later, not now

However, Executive Council convenor and chairperson of the New People's Party Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee threw in her opinion and as expected, she had many caveats. 

She did not like the idea of independent judges heading the inquiry because they are not policy experts, but isn't that the point?

Ip also said the inquiry should be held after the WHO declares the pandemic over, as there are still new variants. But as they are not as life-threatening as the original Covid-19, there is an argument to have it sooner rather than later.

Nevertheless, she did acknowledge there was a lack of support for infected patients at the peak of the crisis last year, saying the review should look into how to better mobilise social resources and how to maintain medical services when handling a large number of infected residents.

In addition Ip suggested looking into ways to make good use of technology and mobilise civil servants in handling major crises -- isn't that what they did in the latter half, when there was not enough manpower for essential services? 

Ip says officials should not be targeted

But perhaps most importantly, she stressed the inquiry should not target government officials who she says worked hard over the past three years.

"Everyone was handling it hand learning along the way, as well as optimising measures. We should not hold anyone accountable for everything, but should instead look for shortcomings and optimise procedures," she said.

While a blame game is not productive, an inquiry needs to uncover what happened and why, and how to make things better in the future.

But in some cases, there were things the health experts suggested and the government did not take the advice, or processes were completely mismanaged or incompetent. The design of the LeaveHomeSafe app comes to mind... 

Most would agree the community vaccination clinics were well organised, but did the government do enough to encourage people, particularly the elderly to get jabbed? Why did the authorities not clamp down on mis- and disinformation on vaccines and how many vials of vaccines were wasted? 

Taxpayers deserve to know what happened, and an inquiry -- if it ever happens -- is a good place to start. But caveats aren't very helpful when the government lacks integrity and transparency...

Lam Missing from CPPCC List

There were rumours Lam would be named to the CPPCC

Even though former Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor believed being a workaholic ensures success, she missed the cut in being appointed to China's highest advisory body.

Tung and Leung elevated to the state level

There were expectations that Lam would be named vice-chairwoman of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference, as the meeting to discuss new members is being held in Beijing from Sunday for three days, but her name was not on the list.

Maybe it's because of the technical issue of her not being a member of the CPPCC. She needs to be recommended to the committee and vetted before she can be approved to be on the list.

Other Hongkongers on the list are former World Health Organisation director-general Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, tycoon Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, and chairperson of the board of West Kowloon Henry Tang Ying-yen, who was a former CE candidate.

Meanwhile Lam's two predecessors, Tung Chee-hwa and Leung Chun-ying have both been promoted to state-leader roles as CPPCC vice-chairmen.

Tang was appointed to the CPPCC as a member

One would think Beijing would reward her somehow for being stuck between a rock and a hard place during the 2019 protests followed by the Covid-19 pandemic, having to adhere to Beijing's policies.

But nope. Or maybe she wants nothing to do with Beijing anymore?

China Reports 60K Covid Deaths... True or False?

Hospitals in China are overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients

In a bid to silence other countries for criticising China for not sharing Covid-19 data on infections and deaths, it yesterday claimed that just under 60,000 deaths were recorded from December 8 to January 12, when the zero-Covid restrictions were lifted.

The authorities also claim fever clinic visits and hospitalisations have peaked.

It is the first time China has released a death toll since its abrupt pivot away from its punishing zero-Covid strategy. 

Jiao claims 60K have died from Covid-19

Jiao Yahui, director of the National Health Commission's medical affairs department, said medical institutes recorded 5,503 deaths due to respiratory failure caused by Covid-19 infection, and 54,435 deaths of people with Covid-19 who had underlying health conditions, such as cancer or cardiovascular diseases.

"The standard is basically in line with those adopted by the World Health Organisation and other major countries," she said.

The average age of those who died was 80.3, and 90 percent of the fatalities were people aged 65 and older.

While it's definitely more than the over 5,000 that China reported since the pandemic began in December 2019, but many infectious disease experts are still skeptical.

One of them is Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Huang skeptical of 60K number, believes higher

"The sharp revision is an official response to international criticism of the lack of transparency and accuracy in China's reporting of Covid-related data," he told CNN. 

"Given the still huge gap between the official count of Covid deaths and the international estimate, I don't think the revision will quell outside doubts on the government data."

In an interview with Reuters, Huang said it was unclear whether the new data accurately reflected the actual fatalities because doctors were discouraged from reporting Covid-related deaths, and the numbers only included deaths in hospitals.

"In the countryside, for example, many elderly people died at home but were not tested for Covid due to the lack of access to test kits or their unwillingness to get tested," he said.

And now the great migration is underway -- millions of people are on planes, trains and automobiles to get back to their hometowns for Spring Festival that starts on January 22. There are estimates that over 2 billion passenger trips will be made.

Travellers flood the Guangzhou train station

It is very possible that while traveling people will be infected with Covid-19 and spread the virus to their relatives. This could have an even more devastating effect, as those living in remote rural areas will be least likely to be vaccinated and if infected, will not have access to medicine and hospitals equipped to deal with respiratory illnesses.

For Jiao to claim the virus has already peaked is wishful thinking.

China's Never-ending Covid Strategy

WHO's Tedros says China's zero-Covid is unsustainable

The World Health Organisation has told China that its zero-Covid strategy is not sustainable and that it needs to find a way to transition out of it. 

But China seems to be doubling down with Shanghai still under lockdown after 51 days and in Beijing, workers in full PPE gear are putting up razor wire on the walls of compounds to prevent residents from leaving.

"When we talk about the zero-Covid strategy, we don't think that it's sustainable considering the behaviour of the virus now and what we anticipate in the future," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday.

Shanghai's lockdown has left residents depressed

"We have discussed about the issue with Chinese experts and we indicated that the approach will not be sustainable. Transiting into another strategy will be very important."

Interesting Tedros is saying this now, over two years later -- as he was previously a champion of China's methods of stamping out the virus. Does this mean the WHO will also quietly stop endorsing Chinese-made vaccines using dead viruses and using TCM to treat symptoms?

Nevertheless, it's a significant shift for the WHO, but will China listen?

Chinese state media is parroting how the zero-Covid strategy is working well, but doesn't taken into account the economic price the country is paying, let alone its citizens' financial and mental health.

People are frustrated, angry, depressed and desperate being prevented from leaving their homes, unable to get enough food to eat, unable to earn a living, and wondering when this will all end.

In Shanghai they shouted from their apartments, banged on pots and pans, sent out as many messages as they could to the outside world, including a video compiled on April 6 of their desperation, and there are videos of them physically fighting with people in white PPE suits.

Beijingers are wondering if they are going to get the same treatment soon.

People's Daily on testing, quarantine, control

The easiest solution would be to vaccinate as many people as possible with mRNA vaccines instead of those using the dead virus; China has acquired them but refuses to use them in the hopes of developing its own version. 

But there is no time to waste -- China should be injecting these vaccines in the arms of the elderly in particular and anyone else who is immunocompromised as soon as possible.

It's a pity politics is taking precedence over science. And it has made people terrified of the virus.

On May 6 the People's Daily published a statement from the Politburo Standing Committee chaired by Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Covid strategy. The 1,900-word statement only had 10 words on the vaccination effort (circled in the red frame), while the rest talked about focusing on testing, quarantine and movement control. 

Not only does the zero-Covid approach hurt China, but also Hong Kong and Macau too, both waiting desperately for over two years for the border to the mainland to be lifted.

However, this is not Xi's priority -- he is determined to prove to the world that the zero-Covid strategy works and at any cost. But the rest of the world has ignored him and moved on, with some countries with clear protocols in place if someone vaccinated tests positive. 

They are not locked down indefinitely or worse -- shipped off to a quarantine camp where there are reports they are completely unsanitary, there are not enough supplies and no definitive word on when they can leave.

Tedros last visited China during Winter Games

People in China are not praising the country's efforts in fighting Covid-19 anymore -- they are concerned about their rights being infringed upon and are demanding answers. 

And since Tedros' comments about China today, they have been censored from China's internet.

Perhaps he is not the friend China thought it had anymore...