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HONG KONG: A Hong Kong pro-democracy health workers union and several activists, including Joshua Wong, called on Sunday (August 30) to boycott the government’s universal coronavirus testing plan, in which the mainland Chinese medical personnel are ready to help. .
Starting Tuesday, a 60-person team on the mainland is to test the first direct aid from China’s health officials for the city as it battles the pandemic.
But the effort comes at a sensitive time for the former British colony, as anxiety runs high over what many of its 7.5 million residents see as Beijing’s efforts to control their freedoms, particularly a national security law. imposed in June.
The government also postponed the September legislative elections for a year, citing public health risks and dealing a blow to the camp of the pro-democracy opposition, which was expecting a historic majority victory after overwhelming success in lower-level elections last year. .
READ: Hong Kong researchers report first documented COVID-19 reinfection
The Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, formed during last year’s protests with 20,000 members, said universal testing was not an efficient use of resources and instead urged focused testing.
“It is clear that the government has only one goal … to use the pandemic to achieve its own political goals,” said its leader Winnie Yu at a joint press conference with activists.
“They will do everything they can to please the central government of China, even if it means putting politics above all else.”
Wong said a complete border closure would be a better measure than the government’s plan, adding: “It’s like taking a pregnancy test without having a contraceptive method.”
Beijing-backed city executive director Carrie Lam responded to critics of the initiative, dismissing their attempt to “smear the central government.”
Chinese state media have denounced the critics as ungrateful, while China’s Hong Kong Liaison Office in the financial center has said in a statement that it is “shocking” that people can question the plan.
READ: Hong Kong to ease some COVID-19 measures as new cases decline
It comes at a time when new daily infections have dropped substantially, to single or double digits, from triple digits during a spike a few weeks ago. The count increased to 4,801 with 15 more cases reported on Sunday.
Police also dispersed a protest by dozens of activists in a shopping mall about a year after some of the most violent clashes at a subway station in train cars, citing a COVID-19 precaution that limits gatherings to two.
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