【明報專訊】HONG KONG has sunk into deep economic recession because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the city has yet to get the better of the third wave of infections, the economic outlook for the second half year is far from promising. Although the two rounds of the Anti-epidemic Fund launched by the government have helped alleviate cost pressure faced by small- and medium-sized enterprises, some sectors continue to do slack business. More and more businesses are losing their battles for survival, which is a worrying situation. We cannot sit back and do nothing about the fact that myriads of businesses are withering and unemployment is such a serious problem. It is true that the government cannot pull businesses off their "life support" at once. But at the same time, the authorities also have to make sure that public finances are stable and sound. With the global pandemic having no end in sight and no one knowing when vaccines will be ready, in order to save the economy and safeguard jobs, a highly effective method for containing the pandemic must be found so that economic activities can resume in a sustainable manner. Mere reliance on monetary aids from the government will solve the problem only temporarily but not permanently.