Ryan Whalen on Continuing Hong Kong’s Health ‘Emergency’ Risks Public Trust (SCMP: Letter)

Letters | "Continuing Hong Kong’s health ‘emergency’ risks public trust"
Whalen Ryan
SCMP
8 February 2023

Introduction: The government is to be commended for reopening Hong Kong, rolling back most pandemic-related restrictions, and welcoming the world to come and visit again. However, there is one major legal omission in our return to normalcy. Hong Kong legally remains in a state of public health emergency. This state of emergency provides the government with a variety of powers under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance (Cap 599).

     Despite our current legal state of emergency, it is clear to most observers that the emergency has passed. This is true whether one takes a layperson’s definition, or that provided in Cap 599.
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