Joshua Wong 黃之鋒  😷Verified account

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.

11/ Worse still, quarantine centres are patrolled by untrained teenage scouts. With limited protection gear & an endless influx of travellers from China, it's a matter of time before virus turns into a full-blown community outbreak.

12/ As HK simply tightens, but not fully closes its border, more travel bans on HK seem inevitable. Companies like American Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin Australia have already cut flights to HK, while Taiwan and the Philippines have restricted travellers from HK.

13/ If Hong Kong fails to seal its borders to stem the spread, the city is doomed to be sealed by the rest of the world. The economic loss will be immense for this Asian financial hub. Therefore, I urge Carrie Lam to answer the people’s call and close our border crossings.