HONG KONG, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Leung Chun-ying on Saturday lashed out at Hong Kong opposition for placing politics above public health as they criticized the postponement of the 2020 Legislative Council (LegCo) General Election of the HKSAR.

Hong Kong is being hit by the third round of COVID-19 outbreak, with the daily new cases exceeding 100 for over 10 days and the source of infection of many cases remaining unknown, Leung said on social media, noting that all large group events have been postponed or canceled as a result.

Under such circumstances, the election campaign will not be able to proceed normally in the coming month, nor will the vote casting and counting, said Leung.

The priority of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government and the whole community for a period of time ahead must be curbing the spread of the epidemic and reducing COVID-19 infections to zero, Leung said.

While protecting public health, Hong Kong also needs to resume normal economic activities as soon as possible, so as to prevent economy from further declining and unemployment from further worsening, he added.