HONG KONG -- Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam is under intensifying pressure over her handling of the city's worst COVID outbreak, with daily case counts multiplying and thousands waiting for admission to hospital.
Chinese President Xi Jinping raised the stakes for Lam on Wednesday with remarks carried exclusively on the front pages of local newspapers controlled by Beijing, calling on her administration to grasp the "overriding mission" of stabilizing the situation and controlling the outbreak, using whatever means necessary.