As case numbers continue to soar despite the government's suddenly draconian measures to suppress spread, thousands of Hong Kongers have decided to flee, escaping both the crushing COVID restrictions, and the city-state's increasingly authoritarian tendencies now that Beijing has reasserted political control.

Hong Kong's response to the virus has gotten increasingly heavy-handed as authorities demand that it fall in line with Beijing's "COVID zero" policy, which requires mass testing and liberal use of mass quarantines to isolate areas experiencing outbreaks. For much of the pandemic, Hong Kong's decision to close itself off from international travelers appeared to be enough to keep COVID at bay.

But omicron punctured its defenses, and now thousands of sick individuals are being shipped off to quarantine "camps".

These and other strict measures risk transforming Hong Kong's trickle of emigres into a flood.

WSJ caught up with one individual,  a western expat living in Hong Kong named Charles Murton. Murton first arrived in the city during his teenage years, but is now preparing to flee with his family, perhaps to Singapore, a destination that beckons for many Hong Kongers since the government there has continued to encoourage migration from Hong Kong, despite harboring increasing levels of COVID infection itself.

Murton said the city's decision to shutter schools next month as it seeks to test all 7.4M of its reisdents for COVID was the last straw.