雙語社評齊齊聽

[英語 (足本收聽)] Presented by Dr CHEN, Fangyu Sharon, Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

[普通話 (足本收聽)] Presented by Dr MAO, Sheng Michelle, Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

The government has announced that citizens no longer need to scan the LeaveHomeSafe app starting today (14 December), and the "amber code" restriction has also been cancelled, meaning that there will no longer be any restrictions on the activities of arrivals after they reach Hong Kong. Some lawmakers have described this as in effect an implementation of "0+0". The LeaveHomeSafe app has been launched for more than two years. As an iconic anti-epidemic tool in Hong Kong, there have been many controversies surrounding it. In any case, as virus tracking has become a thing of the past, cancelling the LeaveHomeSafe code-scanning mandate will not have any real impact. The biggest problem with the government's decision this time is that it came too abruptly, and the policy took a sharp turn, which inevitably gave the public the impression that the government is always chopping and changing. The cancellation of the LeaveHomeSafe code-scanning mandate and the amber code restriction on the vaccine pass is an important sign that Hong Kong is returning to normal. The authorities should further relax the anti-epidemic measures based on the principle of "being as lenient as possible", and at the same time actively organise more events and large-scale activities to convey to the outside world that Hong Kong has reopened.

[ENG audio 1]

The mainland announced the "ten new measures" last week, marking a major change in its anti-epidemic policy, and Hong Kong's role and responsibility in joint epidemic prevention and control have also changed accordingly. Chief Executive John Lee revealed on Sunday (11 December) that he was discussing with the Health Bureau to consider a comprehensive review on which anti-epidemic policies can be adjusted under the new circumstances. Two days later, John Lee took the lead in announcing two new anti-epidemic arrangements before presiding over the Executive Council meeting yesterday (13 December), including: 1) Starting today, citizens do not need to scan the LeaveHomeSafe app, but they will still have to show their vaccine passes when entering designated places such as restaurants; 2) The amber code restriction will be cancelled, except for the red code for confirmed cases — all other people will be given blue codes, including arrivals. Later on the same day, Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau further announced that a number of measures will be relaxed, including gradually reducing the frequency of issuing compulsory testing orders to residential buildings, and narrowing the scope of regular nucleic acid testing to only people such as employees of the Hospital Authority and nursing homes.

[ENG audio 2]

The LeaveHomeSafe app was launched in November 2020, and it has been more than two years since then. As a tool to help track the virus, LeaveHomeSafe can be said to have emerged amidst political controversy. The government has repeatedly emphasised that LeaveHomeSafe is convenient for citizens to record where they've been. The app itself does not have an automatic tracking function, nor will it automatically upload personal information. However, after experiencing the anti-amendment storm, some citizens are quite resistant to LeaveHomeSafe, as they suspect that there are other political purposes behind it. Although Hong Kong has undergone fundamental changes in both the pandemic and political situation in the past two years, even today, some people still see LeaveHomeSafe from a political perspective. Not so long ago, there were still people who wanted to apply for a judicial review, claiming that the app is a political tool for tracking citizens.

[ENG audio 3]

The vaccine pass is an important tool for boosting the vaccination rate, which will continue to help encourage the elderly and young children to get vaccinated. If citizens are required to receive booster shots in the future, the vaccine pass can also play a role, so it is worth keeping at this stage. The COVID-19 virus is constantly mutating. In order to monitor the situation of imported cases, nucleic acid testing for Hong Kong arrivals at the airport also should not be withdrawn in the short term. Despite that, Hong Kong already has a fairly solid barrier against severe cases. Some anti-epidemic measures, such as sewage monitoring, compulsory testing orders for buildings, restrictions on cinema occupancies and the capacity cap on the number of banquet guests do not have much effect anymore. In fact, they can be scrapped all in one go. The government can concentrate the manpower and resources that was saved on the protection of the elderly, the sick and the weak. Due to limited space and insufficient manpower, some nursing homes are still facing many difficulties in pandemic prevention and the treatment of infected residents. As winter arrives and diseases break out more frequently, the government should mobilise more resources to support the control of the pandemic in nursing homes and shoulder the burden of public hospitals.

[ENG audio 4]

「安心」掃碼告一段落 香港復常全力催谷

政府宣布今起市民不用再掃「安心出行」，「黃碼」限制亦告取消，意味入境人士抵港後再無活動限制，有議員形容這是變相實施「0+0」。安心出行推出兩年有餘，作為本港一個標誌性的抗疫工具，有過不少爭議，無論如何，隨着病毒追蹤工作成為明日黃花，取消「安心」掃碼也不會有任何實質影響，政府這次決定，最大問題是來得太過突兀，政策急轉彎，難免令公眾有朝令夕改之感。取消安心出行掃碼及「疫苗通」黃碼限制，是本港復常重要標誌，當局應本着「應寬盡寬」原則，進一步鬆綁控疫措施，同時積極籌辦更多盛事及大型活動，向外宣示香港已經重新開放。

[PTH audio 1]

內地上周頒布「新十條」，標誌防疫政策重大變化，香港在聯防聯控方面的角色與責任亦隨之變化。行政長官李家超周日透露，正與醫衛局商討，在新情况下全面檢視哪些防疫政策可以調整。相隔兩天，李家超昨天主持行會會議前，率先宣布兩項抗疫新安排，包括：1）今天起市民不用掃安心出行，不過進入食肆等指定處所，仍須出示疫苗通行證；2）取消黃碼限制，除了確診者紅碼外，其他人一律藍碼，包括入境人士。同日稍後，醫衛局長盧寵茂再宣布多項放寬措施，包括逐步減少向住宅大廈發強檢令，以及將定期核酸檢測的行業範圍，縮窄至醫管局及院舍員工等。

[PTH audio 2]

安心出行2020年11月啟用，至今超過兩年，作為一項協助追蹤病毒的工具，「安心」可說是在政治爭議聲中面世。政府再三強調，「安心」便利市民記錄行程，本身不具自動追蹤功能，也不會自動上傳個人資料，然而經歷了反修例風暴，部分市民對於「安心」相當抗拒，懷疑背後有其他政治目的。儘管這兩年間，本港無論疫情還是政治形勢都出現了根本變化，然而時至今天，仍然有人以政治角度看待「安心」，就在不久前，仍有人想申請司法覆核，質疑「安心」是跟蹤市民的政治工具。

[PTH audio 3]

疫苗通行證是谷針重要工具，有助繼續推動一老一幼打針，日後如果再要市民打加強針，疫苗通亦可發揮作用，現階段值得保留；新冠病毒不斷變種，為了監測輸入情况，抵港入士機場核酸檢測，短期也不宜撤去，惟本港已有相當穩固的防重症屏障，部分控疫措施，諸如污水監測、大廈強檢、限制戲院入座率、宴會人數上限等，作用已然不大，其實可以大刀闊斧取消。政府可以將省下來的人力物力，集中投放在保護老幼病弱的環節。由於空間有限、人手不足，部分院舍在防疫及處理染疫院友等問題上，仍然面對很多困難。隨着冬季來臨，疾病多發，政府應調動更多資源，支援院舍控疫，為公院分憂。

[PTH audio 4]

明報社評 2022.12.14