Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor (center) holds a press conference on measures to fight COVID-19 with Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen (left) and Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee at the Central Government Offices, Tamar, Hong Kong, March 19, 2022. (PHOTO/HKSAR GOVERNMENT)
HONG KONG - Hong Kong’s public servants are united in spearheading the battle against COVID-19 and see the fight as their top priority, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor told her 10th daily anti-pandemic news conference on Saturday.
“In this battle, whether it’s during the past two years or since the fifth wave of the pandemic began, our civil servants have never let their guard down or felt tired. Everyone is dedicated,” she said.
In this battle, whether it’s during the past two years or since the fifth wave of the pandemic began, our civil servants have never let their guard down or felt tired. Everyone is dedicated.
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong chief executive
Lam said she’s grateful to the city’s civil servants, the Hospital Authority, as well as workers and staff at public utility institutions who’ve stood firm in their posts.
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As of March 14 this year, 32,200, or 17 percent, of Hong Kong’s civil servants, have come down with COVID-19, but up to 70 percent of them are now back at work. At the Hospital Authority, some 20 percent of its employees have been infected, with half of them having returned to work. At MTR Corporation, about 20 percent of its workers have been infected, but most of them are back at their posts.
“The government has the primary responsibility in containing this outbreak, while civil servants shoulder an undeniable responsibility. Stopping the virus is their top priority,” said Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen.
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Referring to the progress being made in vaccination work at care homes for the elderly and disabled, he said vaccination teams had visited 1,100 care homes as of Thursday to give suitable residents at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
So far, about 42,000 residents at care homes have been vaccinated, pushing up the overall vaccination rate at these facilities to 55 percent – a 52-percent vaccination rate for the elderly and 64 percent for the disabled. Among the unvaccinated, about 40 percent are unsuitable for jabs due to recent infections, while 10 percent of them are worried about objections from their families, said Nip.
Currently, 81 percent of residents aged 70 to 79 have received one dose of the vaccines, while the figure for those aged 80 and above stands at 56 percent. Among those in their seventies who have received their second dose so far, the vaccination rate is 67 percent. For people aged 80 or above, the rate is 38 percent, according to official figures.
