Update: Xi Orders Hong Kong to Make Containing Covid Top Priority

President Xi Jinping ordered Hong Kong to make containing the city’s Covid-19 outbreak its “overriding task” and ensure “overall social stability” amid record case numbers, local state-owned media reported Wednesday.

Xi told the city government to “take major responsibility” to mobilize all available resources and take all necessary measures to safeguard the life and health of the people of Hong Kong. He said the city will have Beijing’s full support in battling the disease, according to reports from Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Po, two pro-Beijing news outlets in the city.