President Xi Jinping called for Hong Kong officials to take ¡°all necessary measures¡± in getting the city¡¯s virus outbreak under control, an unusually direct intervention that could pave the way for stricter measures and possibly a broader lockdown in the Asian financial hub.
The Chinese leader said Chief Executive Carrie Lam¡¯s government should make stabilizing the COVID-19 situation its top priority, the state-run Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao newspapers reported Wednesday, without saying where they got the information.
The message, which leaves the city¡¯s leaders even less room to deviate from China¡¯s ¡°COVID zero¡± policy, came a day after Lam said she had no plans for a citywide lock down, although she acknowledged the omicron variant outbreak had overwhelmed the government¡¯s capacity to respond.
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