Policy Address
Adopting a Multi-pronged Approach
33. Since the outbreak of the epidemic in January this year, the inter-departmental Steering Committee cum Command Centre led by me has been making timely adjustments to the measures to cope with the ever-changing situation with a view to curbing the epidemic through a multi-pronged approach. In the course of doing so, not only do we have to consider the legal basis of the measures, the level of acceptance from the public and the impact on the economy, but also the practicability of the measures in achieving the desired effect. This is by no means an easy task, but I can assure that every decision we made is based on science, expert advice and the information available to us at the time, and that political considerations have never come into play.
34. As the research and development of vaccines take time, and the epidemic situation remains unstable and may persist for a period of time, we need to be prepared at all times for the next wave. With the concerted efforts of the Government and the sector, the testing capacity of the local private sector has increased from several thousand per day initially to the current level of over 100 000, and the cost of testing has also dropped substantially. The anti-epidemic technologies developed locally have also proved to be highly useful. Furthermore, we have set up more quarantine centres and treatment facilities, subsidised the production of masks and other personal protective equipment locally, as well as rolled out three rounds of AEF measures to support the sectors and members of the public that have been hard hit by the epidemic.
