Since taking office five years ago, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has held a steady stream of news conferences. Now, as the city tops the world in COVID-19 deaths, she’s gone without a briefing since visiting mainland China in November.
Lam last gave a major briefing on Feb. 22, when she announced that every resident would be tested for COVID-19 three times in March, sending shock waves through a city that had so far largely avoided a major outbreak. Since then, Hong Kong has recorded more than 1,300 COVID-19 deaths, with about 90% of fatalities among unvaccinated people. Cases have surged to more than 25,000 a day.
Lam’s withdrawal from public view underscores concern about how Hong Kong will be governed in the wake of Beijing’s purge of the pro-democracy opposition. The city now lacks both the checks of a democratic system and the centralized control the Communist Party enjoys on the mainland, said Dongshu Liu, an assistant professor specializing in Chinese politics at the City University of Hong Kong.