• Chief Executive John Lee says epidemic situation has been changing rapidly and there is no recognised best or standard solution for handling it
• He also says the government will soon scrap vaccination and rapid antigen testing requirements for arrivals

Hong Kong’s leader has dismissed calls for an independent investigation into the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying there has never been a recognised best solution for the public health crisis.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday also said the government would soon scrap vaccination and rapid antigen testing requirements for arrivals, as he pledged to focus on the return to full normality and focus on economic development for Hong Kong.

Without providing a clear timetable, Lee said the city would also “very soon” axe polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test requirements for travellers going to mainland China, but the present mask mandate would remain for now as the risk of a winter surge in the number of Covid-19 cases remained.

Addressing the need for an independent review on the three-year pandemic as suggested by leading government health adviser Professor Yuen Kwok-yung last week, Lee said he disagreed with such a proposal.

The epidemic situation has been changing rapidly, and local governments respond in real time according to the situation. There is no recognised best or standard solution,” he said ahead of his weekly Executive Council meeting.

“I agree that we must sum up experience to ensure that we can effectively respond to different threats, and that is what the government has been continuously doing – to sum up experience and optimised measures to ensure we have the ability to respond.”

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Lee said since he took office last July, he had set up a command group to lead government departments on how to handle the crisis, as well as strengthen the public healthcare system and make decisions based on scientific evidence, along with other measures

We have been planning to reconnect with the international world, as well as fully reopening the border with the mainland. These are the results of the government’s continuous review and continuous optimisation of policies,” he added.

Planning ahead, Lee said the government had two main goals in the near future – to focus on economic development and comprehensively promote Hong Kong to overseas and mainland Chinese visitors, while comprehensively planning for the return of full normality under continuous review of the city’s capability in handling crises.

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He has also assigned the deputy financial secretary to conduct a full review on the use of isolation and quarantine facilities based on the epidemic situation, to decide when the land could be released for new developments in phases, while reserving enough space to cope for possible future crises.

Top pandemic adviser Yuen, of the University of Hong Kong, last week urged the government to conduct a review to prepare for the next crisis.

He pointed to deficiencies in areas such as virus tracking, isolation and testing in the early stages of the pandemic, saying the government should also review the large-scale outbreaks at care homes for the elderly.

n additional 358 infections were reported, which pushed the city’s tally of cases to at least 2,876,464. Five more Covid-related deaths were recorded, taking the total to 13,338.