Amid a scare about the so-called Wuhan virus, Hong Kong SAR CEO Carrie Lam on Wednesday said robust processes are in place to deal with the situation, including use of holiday camps if quarantine is required.
"A couple of hours ago, Hong Kong health authorities have announced we have the first case of a highly suspicious infection from a passenger from Wuhan... My health colleagues are really on guard," she said.
Speaking here at the WEF 2020, she said, "With this rapid flow of people across the border we are vulnerable. But robust processes are in place, including making use of holiday camps if quarantine is needed."
On the long-running protests in Hong Kong, she said, "We are very used to protest and demonstrations with police handling around 10,000 a year."
"We have absolutely no problem with peaceful demonstrations against anything under the sun... What we have seen which is totally unfamiliar and unprecedented to us is a high degree of violence, a lack of respect for differences in opinion.
"To simplify all these protests as fighting for democracy and continued freedoms may have underestimated the situation," she maintained.
She further said the "one country, two systems" governance model with China -- a key factor in the protests -- is important to the city's stability.
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"We hold the rule of law dearly in Hong Kong. I cannot agree to demands that will destroy Hong Kong's institutions," Lam added.
She also stressed the importance of a free press and said she has resisted pressure to control how journalists access the protests.
"While people focus on what has happened in Hong Kong, what has not happened in the last months is massive bloodshed on Hong Kong streets.... A curfew has not happened. The gagging of the media has not happened," she said.
"If everybody is committed to one country, two systems, all these freedoms and rights are enshrined under basic law," Lam added.
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