Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), met with Zhang Yurun, deputy director of the Health Commission of Guangdong Province, and a number of epidemiologists from Guangdong on Monday to listen to their views and suggestions on the special administrative region’s efforts to combat the fifth wave of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Carrie Lam thanked the central authorities and Guangdong province for their support. At the same time, she expressed her appreciation for the constructive suggestions put forward by members of the expert group, including the establishment of an online patient information reporting platform: the Infectious Diseases Public Platform.

The experts urge the SAR to strengthen nucleic acid testing and further raise its vigilance to trace the origin of the infections and create hierarchical diagnoses to reduce COVID-19 deaths by using medical resources to treat emergency cases.

“The extensive experience of the Guangdong Provincial Health Commission and members of the mainland epidemiological expert team can help us take a comprehensive view of the current epidemic prevention and control strategies and measures, adjusting them to the actual situations in Hong Kong and exercise zero-tolerance to the pandemic,” said Carrie Lam.

She said the SAR would continue to make full use of the central authorities’ support to ensure that the epidemic is brought under control as soon as possible and ensure the safety of the people.