With the COVID-19 cases rapidly rising, the Hong Kong administration is finding itself unable to manage the pandemic with some fearing the government's failure to get the virus under control has accelerated Beijing's creeping authority over the semi-autonomous territory, media reports said.
On Saturday, Hong Kong registered 7,528 new COVID-19 cases by nucleic acid tests, and 9,069 additional positive cases through self-reported rapid antigen tests, official data showed, as reported by Xinhua.
This came after Hong Kong's COVID-19 case count surpassed 1 million on Friday, amid the fifth and the worst wave of the disease.
The policy indecision from Hong Kong's chief executive Lam and other officials has appeared to be a reaction to mounting pressure from the mainland.
When cases jumped in mid-February and overburdened hospitals began treating patients on gurneys on the sidewalk, Xi Jinping, China's top leader, warned Hong Kong officials to "make controlling the epidemic as soon as possible an overwhelming priority," said a think-tank, Policy Research Group.
The whole approach of the government has seemed to be chaotic," said Lau Siu-kai, a Hong Kong scholar who advises Beijing.
"You can see all the complaints around Hong Kong these days," he added.
"It makes Beijing worried."
Researchers estimate that half of the population in Hong Kong may have already been infected. -- ANI