Hong Kong's leader said Thursday she was mulling easing some of the city's coronavirus restrictions due to waning public tolerance, but could not provide a roadmap out of the current Omicron-fuelled crisis.

Carrie Lam's administration has been pummelled by all sides over its unclear public messaging and handling of Hong Kong's fifth wave, which has brought nearly a million cases and 4,600 deaths in less than three months.

The jump in case numbers comes despite the finance hub putting in place border restrictions since the pandemic's start and deploying some of the harshest social-distancing measures outside mainland China.

Since Omicron broke through in January, there have been bans on public gatherings of more than two, restrictions on night-time dining and mandatory masking while doing outdoor activities.

The latest new restrictions came Thursday, when public beaches were closed.

But Lam told a press conference that "the time has come" to review the restrictions.

"Not because the number of cases has come down... but I have a very strong feeling that people's tolerance are fading," she said.

"Some of our financial institutions are losing patience about this sort of isolated status of Hong Kong," she added, promising an update would come "around March 20 or 21".

When pressed on a roadmap for a way out of the crisis, she declined to give specifics.

"The most difficult part of fighting the virus is that we cannot fully predict what's going to happen."

Despite two hard-won years of breathing room due to Hong Kong's adherence to the mainland's zero-Covid strategy, the city is currently seeing scenes reminiscent of the pandemic's start, with mounting elderly deaths and overcrowded hospitals.

Authorities initially announced plans for mass testing of the city's 7.4 million people accompanied by a lockdown, before rolling them back.

The panic fuelled by mixed messaging and further restrictions prompted a record-high exodus of 65,400 local and foreign residents from the finance hub in February.

International banks such as JPMorgan and Bank of America have been working on relocation plans in view of flight bans and potential lockdown, according to a Financial Times report last week.

And Lam's near-daily press conferences about Covid have done little to stop rumours about mass testing and lockdown plans.

- 'Very grateful' -

Researchers estimate Hong Kong's infection toll is significantly higher than official figures, likely already reaching half its population.

China has offered to aid Hong Kong in its Covid battle, including providing about 400 medics who arrived this week to support the city's health workers.

But members of the health sector, lawmakers and reporters have repeatedly raised questions about the visiting medics' legal liabilities.

On Wednesday a reporter from local NowTV channel asked Lam how patients' complaints over the medics will be handled -- drawing wrath from a pro-Beijing group that started a petition calling for the journalist's firing.

Newspaper Ta Kung Pao -- affiliated with Beijing's liaison office -- also published an article alleging questions of liability were "seditious" and could run afoul of China's national security law.

By Thursday afternoon, NowTV news channel issued an apology for the reporter's question at the press conference.

"We are very grateful for the selfless support from the central government and mainland China," it said.

Hong Kong authorities have said the city will shoulder ultimate responsibility.

Morgues overflowing as Hong Kong suffers deadly Covid wave
Hong Kong (AFP) March 16, 2022 - Workers in PPE gear in Hong Kong carted the bodies of coronavirus victims into refrigerated shipping containers on Wednesday, as the city's morgues run out of space from a deadly Omicron surge.

In under three months since the highly transmissible variant broke through, Hong Kong has recorded nearly a million infections and more than 4,600 deaths -- the bulk of them from the city's unvaccinated elderly population.

A funeral industry representative told local media the soaring death toll had seen a crunch in the city's coffins supply, with only 300 remaining and expected to be gone by the weekend.

Leader Carrie Lam acknowledged the supply issues during a press conference Wednesday, and said two more shipments of coffins will arrive in Hong Kong from the mainland soon.

"I learned from the Food and Health Bureau last night that they are endeavouring to arrange transportation (of coffins) by water," she said.

She added that officials have been trying to help families concerned about post-mortem affairs, including how to retrieve bodies already transported to public morgues without a doctor issuing a death certificate.

"We will try to find a way for the family to take the body back so that they can arrange the funeral soon. The crematoriums... have also been working day and night at full capacity," Lam said.

Outside Fu Shan Public Mortuary on Wednesday, workers in full PPE gear moved bodies covered in black tarp from a truck into rows of shipping containers.

- Beaches closed -

Researchers estimate the infection toll in Hong Kong is significantly higher than official figures, likely already reaching half its 7.4 million population.

Lam has taken hits from all sides on her handling of the crisis, with her administration blamed for the spiralling deaths and unclear messaging about a potential lockdown and mass testing.

Chinese social media users have reacted angrily in the past few days, saying the spread of Covid in the mainland is due to Hong Kong's sluggish epidemic response.

Tens of millions in mainland China were abruptly placed under stay at home orders this week, after the emergence of more than 3,000 daily new cases as Beijing battles to maintain its zero-Covid strategy.

In nearby Shenzhen, all 17.5-million residents were locked down on Monday after an Omicron flare-up in factories and neighbourhoods linked to Hong Kong.

After photos emerged of maskless Hong Kong residents sunning at a beach -- which drew vitriol from Shenzhen's netizens -- authorities announced Wednesday that government-managed beaches will be cordoned off starting Thursday.

"As we see a surge of people going to beaches, we have to take appropriate measures in order...to reduce the public's movements to ensure safety," Lam told reporters.

This new measure adds to Hong Kong's already strict distancing rules, including wearing masks while hiking and a ban on gatherings of more than two.

The embattled chief executive -- whose job is up for grabs in a few months -- has so far declined to say if she will run for another term.

The selection process was postponed to May because of the wave of Covid cases, and any further postponement would be up to Beijing, Lam said.

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China boosts bed spaces as Omicron outbreak spreads
Beijing (AFP) March 16, 2022
China has moved to free up hospital beds as officials on Wednesday reported thousands of new cases from an Omicron-led coronavirus outbreak that has put millions under lockdown and raised fears for the health system. The country recorded 3,290 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, including 11 severe cases. The total was down on Tuesday's count of more than 5,000, but the highly transmissible variant is posing the sternest challenge yet to China's 'zero-Covid' strategy to contain the pandemic. Ch ... read more