Not Done Yet

Top of the pile is a lack of democracy, fears the city’s much cherished freedoms are being eroded and entrenched inequality.

“The government might think the protests have been stopped, but from the perspective of the movement it’s not done yet because some very basic demands haven’t been met and people’s anger is not extinguished,” said Samson Yuen, an expert from Lingnan University.

The Lam administration’s response to the virus has hardly won it many new admirers with her approval ratings remaining at historic lows.

Critics — including pro-Beijing political allies — rounded on her initial reticence to shutter the border with China.

There was also anger over the government’s inability to stockpile enough masks despite the city previously experiencing the deadly 2003 SARS outbreak.

The only major street protests since the virus was detected in Hong Kong have been local neighborhood rallies against temporary quarantine facilities and calling for the border with China to be closed.

One empty housing block slated for use as a quarantine center was even firebombed.

Jasper Law, a local councilor from that district, says the border closure protests are linked to the issue of democracy.

“Both come from a deep mistrust of the government,” he said, adding Lam’s administration comes across as “detached from reality and unwilling to listen to the people”.