One by one, Hong Kong¡¯s government is being forced to move away from key pillars of its strict ¡°COVID zero¡± strategy as a surge in new cases overwhelms the under-prepared health care system.
Patients with mild cases are no longer sent to hospital or isolation facilities as there¡¯s no space; instead they¡¯re asked to stay home until they test negative with rapid antigen tests ¡ª which people often need to buy themselves.
Close contacts, no longer recorded by the city¡¯s elaborate contact tracing process, are moving around freely though they¡¯re technically supposed to quarantine at home for at least a week. The app used to flag locations with confirmed cases has suspended risk alerts. Compulsory testing using PCRs has been largely dropped, with at-home rapid tests taking their place.
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