Joshua Wong 黃之鋒  😷Verified account

3/ The call is actually supported by public & experts. From latest poll, 80% population support sealing borders entirely. It's backed by several HK doctors & microbiologists, including Prof Yuen, leading expert in infectious diseases who discovered the agent causing coronavirus.

4/ Nevertheless, in the face of mounting calls for a full shutdown, Carrie Lam has repeatedly dismissed public demands, just like how she handles call for an investigation into police & political reforms. Her decision is disputed by public policy experts & Pro-Beijing parties.

5/ They argued that decision is political rather than based on feasibility concern. As lockdown is dismissed, gov finds itself trapped in legitimacy crisis. It begs question as to whether HK can still maintain its distinction with China. The situation is worse than Sars outbreak.

6/ HK’s medical supplies are drying up this time. One of the reasons for this is connected to the HK democracy movement over the past seven months. Since it began, the Beijing government has classified all types of mask products as “sensitive items”, including surgical masks.

7/ All mask imports from China are now barred from entering HK. Logistic companies and e-commerce platforms simply reject orders to the city. Even more ridiculously, HKGov has filed appeals against the court’s ruling of the ban on face masks as unconstitutional early last month.

8/ Running out of masks, HKers raided supermarkets for protective equipment. Elderly camped out outside pharmacies through chilly winter nights in line for masks, even forced to reuse old masks several times. Worse still, mask stocks for medical workers can only last for 1 month.

9/ No matter how robust our health care system is, all health workers are fighting an endless war with limited weapons, so long as our borders remain open. That is the reason why medical workers have to go on strikes to call for a complete shutdown.

10/ Carrie Lam has cancelled meetings with medics. Instead, Gov put in place quarantine order, which is criticised for being toothless. Though mandatory, measure heavily relies on the self-discipline of quarantined people & is merely enforced by random checks or calls.