Beijing loyalists in Hong Kong have admonished the government over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, with some laying the blame on public health minister Sophia Chan.

Lawmakers from the establishment bloc appeared to have taken their cue from China’s National Health Commission, which twice spoke out this month against the Hong Kong efforts to contain the coronavirus. The commission voiced “great concern” on Wednesday about the city’s coronavirus situation and control measures, following an earlier comment that Hong Kong’s initiatives were “missing the mark.”

On Tuesday, Hong Kong’s Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung and four other top ministers led a delegation to Shenzhen to meet with the commission to discuss vaccination policy.

A source in the pro-establishment camp said the commission’s criticism was “relatively harsh,” and that Cheung’s delegation had in fact been summoned to receive instructions from Chinese authorities.

Pro-Beijing lawmaker Priscilla Leung said the Hong Kong government’s response was “worse than that of the United Kingdom.” She added for good measure that people in the leadership might need to be changed, in a veiled reference to Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan.

Leung criticized Chan by name back in August, claiming that the minister opposed a mandatory citywide testing scheme for COVID-19 because she was afraid of offending influential figures in the medical profession.

Another government ally, Junius Ho, also said Chan must take responsibility for the state of the pandemic locally, and that others besides her might need to be replaced as well.

A third lawmaker, Michael Tien of the Roundtable, said he hoped that “the Hong Kong government wouldn’t always be slower than Macao,” a neighboring Chinese city.

He proposed subjecting arrivals from high-risk areas to a 21-day hotel quarantine period, after Macao on Wednesday imposed an entry ban on visitors from Hong Kong and mainland China who had been abroad in the past 21 days.

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