In an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said that her biggest regret from her time as the city’s leader was its lag in a strong vaccination effort, leading to a spike in deaths and cases, which ultimately led to the city’s strictest lockdown during the fifth wave of the virus.
The fifth wave, caused by omicron, saw more than 9,000 deaths in the city, mostly from elderly populations, giving Hong Kong the highest COVID death rate per capita for a period.
When asked if she wanted to offer an apology to the people of Hong Kong for the stringent lockdown measures, she said that her only apology was to her husband and children for the sacrifices they’d made for her to be in the role.
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“Looking back, if you ask me, had we adopted the more aggressive measures at the very beginning and protected the elderly better, especially in the elderly homes, then perhaps we would have seen a lower number of deaths,” said Lam in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
“I want to apologize to my husband and my sons for the sacrifices they’ve made to support my mission to serve the people of Hong Kong and to build Hong Kong as a part of the People’s Republic of China,” said Lam.
