express his care for the people of hong kong . gave important instructions on supporting hong kong in the fight against the epidemic. but given the political situation now in hong kong, the government is stocked between more voices, urging them to live with the virus. and the 0 call the policy that central government forced them to abide by on with she's in pens top down words. the paradox is more obvious then before where we should note patriotic lawmakers here means those who sympathize more with mainland china. so what does this mean for hong kong as a financial center? when there is this kind of dispute between both sides a both american chamber of commerce in hong kong and the european chamber of commerce have recently reported that hong kong coby prevention measures have aggravated the brand drain of international tailored talent. and the withdraw for an investment, and the european chamber of commerce even said the hong kong locked off may last until 2024. this was mean a wave of withdrawal of capital seriously threatening hong kong status as international financial center. rig

so let's start with a situation in hong kong. the city was falling, mainland china 0 coven plan, but it now appears overwhelmed. how have things gotten so dramatic or the 1st reason is on the chrome, hong kong, as an important international transportation hub may be able to prevent other strengths of the virus, but not infectious on chrome. the increase in congregate activities do in chinese, new year was also an important factor in the major outbreak. another obstacle is the city's fascination rate, which is low compare with many developed countries, only 70 percent of residents are fully resonated and less than half of the elderly in hong kong of is needed. we know hong kong now follows, is there a colby policy? as you mentioned from alan china, but it's more difficult for hong kong to carry out clothes that management. these are the difficult situation that hong kong has to faith that so those comments from she ging pin coming after hong kong chief executive kerry lamb recently said quote, we have no plans for any widespread c

also how hong kong is going to whether a tightening path given that hong kong does import the u.s. monetary policy with the hong kong dollar. they say it's manageable at this point and local banks have the liquidity position to do this. certainly a lot on the financial secretary's played in the next few hours or so. economist are saying given how fast this latest outbreak is, they have limited boost to cushion the economy. >> we will be talking about the city's budget, the virus situation later this hour when we speak to hong kong lawmakers, asking him all of those questions. let's get to su keenan with the first word headlines. su: the u.k. is imposing sections -- sanctions on five russian banks and high net worth individuals as punishment for the kremlin's recognition of republics in the ukraine. other banks on the u.s. sanctions list and most of them are relatively small. prime minister boris johnson says he is prepared to enact measures from luke -- from u.k. lawmakers. the prime minister travels to russia wednesday for the first bilateral meeting in more than 20 years. it will

what about business in hong kong?o you foresee your hotels being used for isolation of covid patients and people who test positive? >> i knew you were going to ask me. i thought it was going to be upfront and i would get away with not answering it. our hotels have always looked for shelter in a storm. in singapore, our hotels were used as stay at home notices as we did what we could to support the government, help people isolate in a safe way. people appreciated hilton and our competitors approach to supporting the greater good. we are open to supporting the government in hong kong. what we have seen with omicron is a quick cycle. other markets if you take australia and india, it has lasted 45 days of occupancy big disrupted and in that time, we stand ready to help wherever we can. there was a long answer to your question. in short, we are prepared to help. we went april 20 to be the date that international flights come back into hong kong. that is certainly the date they are restricted to and we will do whatever we c

there is little that hong kong 7500000 residents can do. but wait, and hope that case numbers begin to fall as soon as possible. earlier asked of you correspond if he be cong, how hong kong hospitals and critical infrastructure are faring given the current wave of infections. well yes, suddenly the authorities are saying that are the occupancy rate of isolation. that's that public hospital, his vision night of his sans are basically public hospital is nearly running, are running out of resources or to accommodate new patients or of their a contractor, dakota 19 virus and the emergency awards at public hospital or so stretched sort of government is now trying to transfer more patients with mouse, tim, tim. so even though symptoms, toombs, some mex shipped, isolation 1st of facilities in a bit to relieve the burden of public hospitals. and that is one of the court issues that, that the government have to tackle in the coming few weeks as a people are expecting that they're at the pressure on the public hospital will get higher as the infectio

but now commonplace here in hong kong, as the city adjusts to tougher measures. and correspondent if you'd be kong is in hong kong and filed this update on the situation in the city. hong kong is struggling, but not yet plunging into panic. however, with all the strength and restrictions imposed for more than 2 years, and now being for a tightened. many people here getting frustrated and exhausted. as a serial coat light appears to have no end in sight. and sought to over hong kong feature intensifies massive layoffs and pay cuts. make more people skeptical about how realistic it is to stick with a c recoded policy. moreover, the continuous but it's co suppression, has already made many people has to government. that prompting credit is content to what is handling off the outbreak. and for many citizens here, the hot like, oh, the policy is like stripping the remaining freedoms. and critics wonder whether it's patient influence rather than what bus for hong kong, the has the city governments that came with the serial cove approach. and amongst other things that ap

i have _ vaccination rate in hong kong. i have seen— vaccination rate in hong kong. have seen more than 75% of eligible people within the city have - have seen more than 75% of eligible people within the city have had - have seen more than 75% of eligible people within the city have had at i people within the city have had at least two — people within the city have had at least two vaccination _ people within the city have had at least two vaccination doses - people within the city have had at least two vaccination doses but. people within the city have had at l least two vaccination doses but one of the _ least two vaccination doses but one of the day _ least two vaccination doses but one of the day talking _ least two vaccination doses but one of the day talking points _ least two vaccination doses but one of the day talking points i _ least two vaccination doses but one of the day talking points i would - of the day talking points i would say can — of the day talking points i would say can hong _ of the day talking points i would say can hong kong _ of the day tal

so it mean when one hong kong to continue to lockdown them, hong kong has to lock down. for now, there is little that hong kong 7500000 residents can do. but wait, and hope that case numbers begin to fall as soon as possible. for more, let's bring in our correspond at phoebe kong in hong kong. phoebe what's the latest on these tough anti covered restrictions? while hong kong now is suffering from the most of fear, i'll break since to pandemic, began in 2020 is the 5th wake of infection in the city that lay over pena. over a 1000 cases were reported yesterday. and in that 980 cases i reported to day heating a record high, so on there are mast hastings and being conducted across hong kong. as i'm standing here, i'll next to one of the testing stations. we can see long lies on cooling up to wait for testing. our people have to wait for hours up to 6 hours or to conduct a compulsory testings if their residential areas were, are detected and virus, or infection. i'm so starting from today, the government is imposing the most aconia meshes are seems to outbreak began, and that

there is little that hong kong 7500000 residents can do. but wait and hope that case numbers begin to fall as soon as possible. let's get more about those cases. with our correspond phoebe kong who is there for us. phoebe. so what's the latest in how these really tough restrictions are going for people there? well hopefully you know, and the going the way shall corona's iris infection caused by the all mcclellan outbreak starting from the late december last year. and now is also the most serious wife at home home has been counted since the beginning of the outbreak that over a 1000 cases newly reported just yesterday and heating a record high numbers over the past 2. yes. and the settings on today a see us a new, strange and mashes, imposed a hong kong including like, like public gatherings of more than 2 people and public gathering, supporting to families, all band. so this is a new mattias. we haven't seen that over the past 2 years and also like leaches values like churches and tempos and also has a loan, has to be shut. so people are rus

in hong kong.dvantage, especially during a time of covid when travel restrictions are having a real impact on the due diligence process, it's about finding the right ways to take risk and we think that there are many investors globally who look at japan and recognized some of the tremendous value that is here but it is a struggle to figure out how to identify, especially in the earlier, private pages, the right types of investments. we think that the japanese corporate culture, particularly the traditional asset management culture and pension fund culture , it's clearly risk-averse for lots of different reasons, some of which may be very good reasons but what it means is they have not developed a tadpole of people who are good at this. private equity, private investments, hedge funds, activists. you had mr. carl icahn talking about for decades, we have seen activists in the united states have a tremendous impact on the way certain industries are run. none of that change has happened yet in japan, d

was next in store for hong kong?wers, hopefully, from one of carrie lam's top advisor on her executive council, bernard chan. this is bloomberg. ♪ >> welcome black -- welcome back. we go to our next exclusive guest, convene or of the executive council in hong kong, which is essentially the chief executive of carrie lam's cabinet, bernard chan. is also high up on the hong kong -thailand business council. he has a broad purview and broad view of the situation in hong kong, facing its fifth wave of covid. guard chan, thank you for joining us on bloomberg television. let's get right to it. take me inside the executive council meeting yesterday when carrie lam was soliciting opinions from all her top advisers on what restrictions are coming next. was this just a stopgap effort, or worry -- are we in store for potentially stricker -- stricter lockdown? bernard: good morning. thank you, stephen. you were right, this is our fifth wave. for the past two weeks, we have probably cumulatively 3000 new cases. predominantly of omi

in hong kong and shanghai, bank of hong kong saying policy will remain supportive.rt weaker links of the economy. no change in tone, instilling confidence that the pboc will do what it can to give support to the economy. rishaad: yeah, having a look at markets as we head to the lunch break in seconds, newfound confidence for the pboc. even more wiggle room at the moment in regards to monetary policy because inflation figures are coming in with all but not unexpected on the cpi. and we also saw a nist in gate numbers, never than anticipated. markets trying to get support from new data for the economy. let's move to a political standoff in canada as part of first word news with vonnie quinn in new york. bonnie: -- vonnie: the police chief inaba, canada has reportedly stepped out after facing criticism over truckers' covid-19 vaccine protest. the post continues it to borders even as the prime minister used emergency power stand the blockade. senate republicans have blocked about a president biden's nomination. republicans say raskin hasn't adequately addressed question

and where is hong kong right now? stephen: it does challenge the zero covid strategy of hong kong and that is why there is so much speculation heading into the weekend with the number two official after carrie lam in hong kong. he went across the border to meet with chinese officials to discuss cooperation efforts and potential beijing help that could be offered. there is a lot of speculation. i had people stop me in the streets asking what was going on? would there be a lockdown? we do not report rumors but it is almost a new story in itself that people are acting on the rumors other it is a run for groceries, produce and the like. there was speculation that perhaps a mainland style lockdown could be coming to hong kong. john lee after visiting with his mainland counterparts in shenzhen said there would not be a mainland style total lockdown of the city. that is something bernard chan told me exclusively that it is just impossible for hong kong to do that but a lot of questions. we had 1300, 1300 40 seven new confirm

hong kong is sticking by its dynamic hong kong policies.ocial distancing measures will be announce later after infections sored to more than 600 on monday. local media reports the new rules includes limiting public gatherings to two people. lamb told reporters that china is ready to help hong kong fight the virus. global news 24 hours a day on air and on bloomberg quicktake powered by 120 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. >> vonnie, the pipeline would be stopped if vladimir putin ordered an invasion of ukraine. biden spoke after a meeting with can german chancellor. >> the french president emmanuel macron holding six hours of talks with putin. let's have a look at some of the highlights from the news briefings as thee tensions do continue to simmer. >> of course, there's a military threat in ukraine, against ukraine. we see the number of russian troops along the ukrainian border. and that is a serious threat to european security. >> russia makes a choice to further invade ukraine. we are jointly ready a

we are pressing ourselves — hong kong. we are pressing ourselves for— hong kong.rselves for a very big - hong kong. we are pressing ourselves for a very big fifth | ourselves for a very big fifth wave and cases are exponentially rising as of now and we expect the cases to and about late month of march or april. and so, its place a lot of stress on emergency departments in the territory and we expect that over time, it's also going to spill over to effecting inpatient bed and care facilities as well. doctor, there have been images that we have seen from hong kong of overflowing hospitals and people unable to get better as you just described there. has the hospital system be able to cope and how much pressure as a vendor at the moment? hang as a vendor at the moment? hong kona has as a vendor at the moment? hong kong has always — as a vendor at the moment? hong kong has always stuck _ as a vendor at the moment? hong kong has always stuck to - as a vendor at the moment? hong kong has always stuck to zero - kong has always stuck to zero covid—i9, so we have always str

tom: his hong kong just another chinese city now?indications are that the central government is increasingly putting its stamp on the running of hank -- the running of hong kong. we know the back story about the erosion of civil liberties. we are seeing it increasingly on the administrative side of things. the chinese government has intervened forcefully. he says hong kong needs to get this under control. china is absolutely in the center of the operation of hong kong. lisa: does the job of carrie lam depend on her willingness to engage in the lockdown that the president of china is requesting? >> that will come up next month. carrie lam knows this outbreak is coming at a critical time. they have been doing quite well up to this time. in january, it seems china has not been shattered so when you see the intervention and how the mainland government is, you have to save there is a lot of pressure on hong kong authorities to get this right. lisa: economic data showed inflation slowed more than expected in china, leading to speculation t

for now, there is little that hong kong 7500000 residents can do. but wait and hope that case numbers begin to fall as soon as possible. will they? w correspondent, phoebe kong is in hong kong and sent us this assessment. this is a common scene in today's hong kong, as long lines are seen across the city for mass testing. hong kong has a here to the so called dynamic fuel infection policy in line with mainland china. but there have been debates on by the hong kong, suspect with it or not critics preston that is not sustainable. when dealing with a contained us army con variance, especially when hong kong has already paid enormous social and economic caused over the past 2 years. fleiss a down by 90 percent rating institution, even lowered hong kong to dp grow forecast due to a sewer cove at policy expos want that such draconian approach could further compromise hong kong leaving position as an international aviation and financial hub. but chief executive carry, lemme insisted that business do the best option for hong kong. as over half of the elderl

hong kong, cases being one of them. what are you looking at? juliette: absolutely, the covid issue is rattling investors in hong kong. you can see the hang seng is down. we are getting jitters in the property market too, after a chairman indicated it will be a black iron age for that sector this year. more broadly, it is about ukraine concerns. energy stocks in the region pretty much the only reprieve, and gold mines holding up well too. a lot of selling in japan, it was closed on friday so they are playing catch-up. looking at bonds as well, we heard late last week that the boj was going to try to intervene to put a cap particularly on the 10 year as it was getting close to the comfort zone of a 25%. -- of .25%. there have been multiyear highs in australia and new zealand similar to the rally you saw in the treasury market on friday, this as we continue to see the safe haven bid amid the concern regarding ukraine. manus: thank you very much, juliette saly in singapore. the big question is how to deal with storing inflation dividing u.s. offici

let's bring in stephen engle in hong kong. what are we seeing in hong kong in terms of the virus? is in a pickle because they do not have the vaccination rate that would protect them from omicron. we are seeing numbers soaring to come a 600 70 cases yesterday, on top of 700 over the weekend, so that is 1300 plus another six or so that are preliminary positive, and about 80% of these cases are omicron a. a number of them, including 150 yesterday, they were not able to trace the source. there are a lot of hidden transmission chains, so they are concerned. that is why we are hearing from the newspaper and other media reports that the government is likely to announce very soon, today if not tomorrow, after they complete their executive council meeting, we could get more social distancing, some of the strictest that the city has seen. the city has been relatively unscathed as opposed to other areas, but that would create a bit of a false sense of security. a lot of people did not get there vaccination, but with the omicron variant spreading quite rapidly, it puts people who are unvacci

haidi: still, a stricter covid -- in store for hong kong. regina ip tells us how the city plans a mast ending mandate. different picture in australia as the nation reopens its international borders. -- is at sydney airport today. >> a buoyant mood here. the band behind me. [indiscernible] -- she will be talking about the challenges ahead for the tourism industry. this is bloomberg. ♪ >> i don't think it presents any specific short-term problems. the problem would come if there was something more serious in terms of conflict. i do not think the geopolitics specifically account -- talking about the russia-ukraine conflict -- i don't think that accounts for a huge amount of price premium at the moment. eitan co. russian troops currently have ukraine surrounded from belarus along the border. and to the black sea in the south. all of its borders. we have reason to believe that russian forces intend to attack ukraine in the coming week. the coming days. shery: president biden -- on the situation in ukraine. haidi: the u.s. warning russia may targe

has held a national day of unity widened. state was the day russia was reported a likely to attack hong kong hospitals have become overwhelmed with torpid. 19 patients son can be seen in beds outside because it's too crowded in doors on kong liter carry lamps as hospitals and clinics are struggling to cope. rushes opened a criminal probe into what it's calling ill treatment of the civilian population in ukraine, following them discovery of mass graves in the countries east. last year, president vladimir putin has said that genocide is taking place there against russian speakers. but the u. s. says the claim is based on lies and it's a pretext for invasion and a chappelle reports. russia's investigative committee says this is an image of a mass grave. the bodies of 295 civilians killed by ukrainian forces has carried out indiscriminate shelling in 2014 other unaided photos broadcast on stevie are said to show more atrocities. they sit with president putin's narrative about what is happening to the russian speaking population in ukraine's east coast. them quickly because in our assessment and

covid in hong kong, one of the concerns for hsbc and other businesses, we are hearing hong kong officialsghter social distancing measures and preparing for universal testing. for more, let's bring in our senior medical reporter. great to have you with us. you don't envy hong kong policymakers, having seen this experiment -- experience across other economies. what could be some of the ways they are trying to get this under control? >> the outbreak is increasing exponentially in hong kong and they know they need to do something in order to get it under control. they are thinking about doing things like increasing, tightening of where they allow people to go, perhaps closing shopping malls, reducing even further the amount of time and numbers of people allowed in restaurants. most significantly they are talking about different types of lockdowns they could roll out across hong kong. nothing kind of firm hard lockdown we saw across china, where people literally can't leave their property, but more like what we saw in the u.s. and europe and other places, where everything is closed except groc

the hong kong, most vulnerable people. for most of the pandemic cases here remain low and hong kong watched as other hospital systems around the world struggle to cope. now cove 19 infections here are exploding. and as prostration, the government wasn't more prepared. brick clearness, al jazeera, hong kong or u. s. judge has sentence the former minnesota police officer to 2 years in prison for killing 20 year old black man. dante wright. the sentence is less than a 3rd of what the prosecution had asked for. the right family says it feels cheated . john henry reports from minneapolis. i am i have been profoundly moved by the latest case of a white police officer killing a black man, ended his controversially. as it began, officer potter made a mistake that he had to tragically kim potter charged with an accidental killing faced a tearful judge who handed down a sentence well below the state guidelines of 6 to 8 years. it is the sentence and judgement of this court that you shall be committed to the custody of the commission

at hong kong impulse 90 percent of its food. let's bring to brit clement to joins now from hong kong and brits at this situation. hospitals and sounds critical . it really is critical. it is overwhelmed. most hung homes of public hospitals are overwhelmed. we were at one in chicago district earlier, and as you can see, it's raining, it's called that would thousands of elderly people waiting outside for hospital beds. now the hospital authority apologize for that situation yesterday. but it happened again today. so clearly there is still a capacity issue in hong kong hospitals. now that's because hong kong cases, a 0 coven policy, which means that even if your displaying mild symptoms, even if you're a symptomatic, then you will still have to go to a hospital or isolation facility. and as a result, there are thousands of people in this city waiting to be admitted at to one of those quarantined facilities or date of hospital. now, in order to cope with that situation and the bottleneck situation, if you like, the hong kong governm

covid cases here in hong kong. rishaad: will have more on this with stephen engle. that aside, is perhaps a bit redundant to say, but what happens to the dollar, given what you just said? andrew: i sound like an economist. this gets complicated. not everybody is increasing interest rates. the u.s. is increasing interest rates, and of course the dollar is going to strengthen. if the markets are right and the headlines are right, everybody is increasing interest rates, then the differentials are not widening. so there is no real reason for the u.s. dollar to strengthen. my view is that the u.s. dollar will strengthen because everybody else is not going to increase interest rates for the time being, possibly even the end of the year. haslinda: when you take a look at the yield curve, it is latin, but perhaps the u.s. economy will be weakening, or at least there's the possibility of that happening. surely it must be a weaker dollar environment going forward. andrew: i feel like the old line of saying stop calling me sh

i'm many hong kong are anxious about sharing their data. i think the app is quite problematic, especially given the current collector coats are consensus in hong kong and be at the source code up we have it's never like i said, there is no way he actually there people to check out where data goes and how does it operate an increasing number of people are avoiding eateries. instead, they're simply ordering take away and find a quiet spots to eat with friends with a picnic, with privacy that such over. now as usual, you can find more on our website at d, w dot com slash business. i'm chris kolber. relent, thanks for watching. every se, successfully ah, with innovation, bring it on new ideas on the conventions. once drive the economy. the engine assumption program. but do they really make our lives easier? any this what our future will nuclear ah made in germany. ah, in 30 minutes on d. w. o these places in europe are smashing in the records, stepped into a bold adventure. it's the treasure map for modern globetrotters. discover some of you up

the hong kong government is facing criticism for st. like this old people waiting out in the cold for a hospital bed. 2 years into the pandemic. many asking why more wasn't done to prepare for this day. brick cleansed al jazeera hong kong, south korea. corona virus cases of surge past 90000 for the 2nd day, the rec racing outbreak has also seen a sharp rise in critically ill patients. at least 389 people are in intensive care and increase of 76 in the past day. people are being urged to get a 4th vaccination shot still in south career and a new initiatives been launched to better integrate defectors from north korea by helping them start their own businesses. more than 33000 defectors live in south korea. but as rob mcbride reports from so many find it hard to adapt to lie fe. yes . but this launch of enter meeting between 2 cultures with a common purpose. south korea, ministers and officials on one side, on the other young defectors from north korea wanting to make their mark in business planning. and jesse kim came to south korea 8 ye

as hong kong is girdled by water. and there are quite a lot of inland wolf and cargo handling areas. and we're contacting some of the shipping companies to see if it's possible to transport these goods to hong kong by water. and on top of all that the cities, health care system has become completely overwhelmed. there is a search in infections as we've been reporting. patients can be seen in bed outside, reportedly because it's too crowded inside the hong kong leader who we were just hearing from there. kerry lamb said area this week that hospitals and clinics were struggling to cope from all life. now to hong kong and our correspondent, the brit clinic, so the hospitals still running out of bed space. they really are overwhelmed. this one behind me in particular is struggling with capacity. there are dozens of people lying outside on hospital bed. many of them are elderly, it's raining, it's cold. now the hospital authority apologized. it seems like this yesterday, but we're seeing it again today. clearly indicating

and thou, to unite hong kong to fight the virus. the hong kong government is facing criticism for seen like this old people waving out in the cold for a hospital bed. 2 years into the pandemic. many asking why more wasn't done to prepare for this day. brick cleansed al jazeera hong kong. ah. discreet look at main stories now into america's top. diplomatic says, millions of people are facing a moment of peril as they wait for russia to invade ukraine. you are secretary of state antony blank and made the comments at the un security council and repeated as governments assertion that moscow is now looking to manufacture a pretext for war. joe biden, us present to saying that he expects ra.

as far south is hong kong. i'm going to put this for now on sunday, some driving rain here that northerly wind and just the high of 11 degrees that is well below average. ok back to the here and now for se, asia central portions of bolivia had been dealing with some flooding. the rain loses a bit of its intensity by friday. heavy falls southern sumatra west java that includes jakarta with the high of $32.00 degrees, some heavy rain or round gang gone into the and amid nika, bar islands, and just a few showers. i think for sure long should stay dry for the southeast of india and also toward the southwest. now if we talk about the northwest of india, still some unhealthy air. we're dealing with new dell. he's got a hive. 27 degrees. now for the goal, for tapping into a southerly flow. so for re i'd watch what this has to your temperature on saturday, up to 28 degrees. enjoy. we'll see soon. take care. oh, the weather. bon said by katara always. their forefathers for the soviets. 25 years after independence they t

is hong kong moving to singapore?ong has always been branded as asia's world series but has been dubbed on social media as asia's isolated city. the airport essentially shut as is the crossing to mainland china. it is absolutely hammering sentiment within hong kong and having an effect on the economy to the point that people moving out of hong kong are leaving in droves. the expatriate community is leaving for roles elsewhere in regional asia or back to where they came from in the first place. there are those who are leaving over concerns over civil liberties with the political backdrop happening here over the past three years. and you take it all you have to say sentiment towards hong kong as a major financial hub is at a low point. tom: with immense respect to what you at bloomberg hong kong are putting up with, what is your timeline when things get better in hong kong with this pandemic? >> before we can even think about it it feels like we've gone back to where we started. hong kong this week has announced another

i'm many hong kong are anxious about sharing their data. i think the app is quite problematic, especially given the current electrical or consensus in hong kong and be at the source code at the app. it's never, it like opens or so there is no way he actually there people to check at where data goes and how does it operate. an increasing number of people are avoiding eateries . instead, they're simply ordering take away and find a quiet spots to eat with friends, but bush in a picnic with privacy that such over now as usual, you can find more on our website at d, w dot com slash business. i'm chris kolber. relent, thanks for watching. ever self a successfully ah, a fairy tale me in china ah, the winter olympic games in beijing are set to be a big hit. no matter the cost or excitement is the government's main focus and surveillance is keeping tab inside china. beijing. controversy. close up on d w. the w's crime fighters are back that africa most successful radio drama series continues. 3rd of all episodes are available online. and of course

so we are very focused on hong kong we think hong kong and the china region will be great for us.rd speaking with bloomberg's manus cranny. a mass covid testing plan is saying only the specific -- specifics need to be worked out. it would be a massive undertaking requiring all 7.5 million residents of the city to possibly be tested multiple times before the end of march. this comes as the daily infections rose to a record high of more than 6000 new cases. for more, let's ring in our chief north asian correspondent stephen in hong kong. this comes as we hear from chinese state media about these stowaway cases from hong kong going to the mainland that have halted flights from beijing to control these infections. so it feels a little bit like whack-a-mole when it comes to rain and these infections. what are we hearing about the hong kong situation? stephen: there are so many questions about what the plans are for this mass testing as local media has reported 7.5 million residents will be tested, perhaps multiple times. the problem is that we had top hong kong epidemiologists and dr.

but they're discouraged by this policy that is going to make hong kong last international. hong kong is one of the few places in the world. still maintaining its no tolerance approach to coven and sticking to mainland china's policy. but as a 5th wave of infections swayed through the community, followed by another round of restrictions, people here are increasingly questioning whether the strategy is sustainable or not . the scandal over birthday party, attended by government officials, has done little to boost trust. on monday, hong kong home affairs, chief casper choice stepped down after making he behaved inappropriately by attending the gathering last month. the government is also under pressure to boost vaccination rights among the elderly, currently at just over 30 percent, with our micron infections expected to serge following the lunar new year. festive period. getting infections to 0 is looking increasingly out of reach brit clinic. al jazeera hong kong in mainland china. meanwhile, have been another $45.00 covert infections reported in 24 hours linked the beijing olympics.

it is causing food delivery delays in hong kong. the suppliers he was forcing up the price of fresh fruit and veggies in some parts of the city. on kong, import 90 percent of his food stamps, health stores, he said $35.00 cross border drivers have tested positive for the virus this month, forcing hundreds more into isolation to stop it from spreading from our own. i came all the way here from the other side of the city because prizes have become too expensive or they're lazy and my delivery truck only came at 2 pm today. i didn't dare to take a break in case i missed its arrival. well, the government did set up a task force to deal with the issue and matoney, and yet i deal with the 1st task is to recruit more truck drivers who have not been exposed to infection risk to joining this work. second, ensure that all cross boundary truckers will have coven 19 tests every day by using the record anti body testing. once the results show negative truckers are allowed to work across the boundary. we're also working to see if it's possible to

and the hong kong governments covered 0 strategy. while that approaches kept overall infections. lo, it is isolated the asian financial hub from much of the world through strict border controls and aggressive local measures. data show business confidence has slipped badly. also controversial is the requirement to show a vaccine pass and mandatory check in with the governments leap homesafe tracking up to enter restaurants public trust and the beijing back to authorities is running out historic lows. i'm many hong kong are anxious about sharing their data. i think the app is quite problematic, especially given the current collector coats are consensus in hong kong and be at the source code at the app. it's never, it like opens or so there is no way he actually there people could check at where data goes and how does it operate. an increasing number of people are avoiding eateries. instead, they're simply ordering take away and find a quiet spots to eat with friends. bushnell. a picnic with privacy that such over now, as usual, you can

, elderly, currently less than 30 percent, or if everyone in hong kong is willing to get fascinated, the situation will be better. it will cost a lot if hong kong wants to stamp out corona virus infections like in mainland china, i think the mainland code with control measures may not suit on cold, but the message from beijing is clear. get your house in order hung pro baiting media quoted chinese president. she didn't ping as telling hong kong to take all necessary steps to contain the virus from yacoma chief executive carry lamb, thanks chief for his support and vowed to unite hong kong to fight the virus. the hong kong government is facing criticism for seen like this. old people waiting out in the cold for a hospital bed. 2 years into the pandemic. many asking why more wasn't done to prepare for this day. brick clearness, al jazeera hong kong, the latest landslide disaster in brazil has swept at least a 110 people to their deaths. many more are still missing. months worth of rain fell on patropolis, known as brazil's imperial city, monica anna keith has more. after the 7, an une

who said that hong kong has entered a state of full-scale combat. strong words coming from the leadership there. he's the number two in the leadership as far as hong kong's authority is concerned. and he's come out and said this is full-scale combat. there are a lot of medical teams that have come into hong kong to help not only curb the escalating numbers when it comes to covid-19, but also to treat and test people in hong kong. testing will be intensified. remember, hong kong has 7 million people plus, and it's going to be a huge task as they've promised to go ahead and ramp up testing. also the health secretary has come out and said today that there is no way they can relax the social distancing norms. like you pointed out, kim, hong kong has seen very stringent measures since the begin of the pandemic. in fact, officials in hong kong earlier this week had gone on to say in this fifth wave, rather, ever since the beginning of this year, hong kong has seen more covid-19 cases than it has in the last two years. what we do know is that another 20,00

but hong kong residents are wondering whether the strategy still makes sense. this familiar sight of crawling q is as thousands are forced to test every day. this follows the announcement of hong kong, toughest isolation measures, yet including the closure of places of worship and hair dressers. a vaccine pass mandate for shops and supermarkets is also being introduced later this month. hong kong government wants to stick to its 0 case policy with leader carry lamb saying the city is unable to live with a virus. i hope you realize, i hope we all realize that the time has come for hong kong to take some tough matches. and every measure that we now introduce has been undertaken in another jurisdiction, including some places and countries wish ha, very proud of their human rights. that democracy and so on, they're doing all these sort of things because this is about about life. public health prevails. vaccination rates are now rising, especially among the elderly. many seniors were unvaccinated because until now, hong kong had been coping well. but there is growin

a changed hong kong is in its place. the school principal leaking, man, it's important not to abandon the protesters even as the territory moves on maintenance don't go far and told it's normal for young people to make mistakes hold. we want to give them an opportunity to turn over new people. they need the 2nd chance yet, but with hong kong society still deeply polarized it appears there's still a long road ahead. brit clannish al jazeera hong kong. foot is in switzerland deciding whether to ban most tobacco advertising restricted their van in many other countries and situation. critics blame on lobbying by tobacco friends with their headquarters in switzerland and other referendum question on sunday is whether to handle animal testing, including medical research experiments. southern italy's puleo region has been hit by a series of bombings in austin attacks and saw that this year. it is a sign of the local murphy has continued presence in the region where the government is trying to route out organized crime. the comm

stephen engle in hong kong.he infectiousness of omicron is at play even that number went from over 600 day ago. stephen: absolutely, it is about the numbers and hong kong put all of its eggs in basket, zero covid in know what they are: dynamic zero covid. to keep it out in contain it. but while they were able to keep delta relatively out of hong kong, omicron has been posing a different challenge, especially over the last five days. the numbers tell the story right now because there was 1100 621 cases, confirmed positive cases yesterday alone on top of 800 preliminary positive cases in addition to more than 600 on tuesday, 600 on monday, nearly 700 combined over the weekend. over the last five days including the preliminary positives yesterday, you have nearly 4000 cases. there are about 5000 or thereabouts hospital beds that are set aside for covid patients and until this latest wave, hong kong hospitalized, put into isolation wards amount all people who came down with covid regardless of whether the work asymp