As the fifth wave of COVID-19 outbreak ravages the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and daily infections hit thousands for a week, a group of experts, medics and testing labs known as "fire eyes" were dispatched from the Chinese mainland to help.

Among the team are leading epidemiologists from Guangdong Province, who not only have rich experiences in dealing with large outbreaks, but also are fluent in Cantonese, and are very familiar with the culture and customs in the HKSAR.

"We have a team of health specialists coming down (from the Chinese mainland) to rescue, to help us out, that actually is a great confidence boost within the Hong Kong community," said Nixie Lam, a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council.

"The situation in Hong Kong right now is on the blink of collapse," Lam added. Last week, the footage of patients in beds waiting outside of hospitals were circulating online, indicating many patients were having difficulties as hospital beds were running out.

On Friday, Carrie Lam, chief executive of the HKSAR, said Hong Kong will take more drastic measures to contain the latest outbreak of the coronavirus, including rolling out mass testing and setting up temporary quarantine facilities.

"The decision was made because today Hong Kong is facing the toughest ever situation in over two years' battle against COVID-19. Therefore, the HKSAR government should pool efforts to respond to the epidemic under the premise of guaranteeing public health and the life and health of its residents. We won't be distracted and will leave no room for error," said Nixie Lam. 

The previously scheduled date, March 27, for electing the chief executive of the HKSAR has also been postponed to May 8, due to the current pandemic situation.

Hong Kong residents pulling together

As a member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, Nixie Lam, together with her co-workers, is also trying to pull different industries together to solve many issues Hong Kong residents are now facing, such as the need to facilitate bureaucratic procedures in emergency situations, and the need for more vehicles to safely transfer patients. Lam said they've already written seven letters over time to the government to specifically list which section of the society needs help. 

As some international media are painting the latest outbreak as a failure of Hong Kong's system or casting doubts on the zero-COVID policy, Nixie Lam asserted that's "something they are willing to see or something they want to portray to their own citizens." People in Hong Kong are getting more united, pulling together to help each other out, she assured.

"We are not alone. What happened in 2019 showed whatever happened, the motherland is always backing us. And now especially on the COVID situation, we know they have experience, we know they have the expertise," Lam said.