The chief of China’s top advisory body has urged Hong Kong representatives to contribute ideas to fight the city’s worsening coronavirus outbreak and promote patriotic education for young people.

In delivering his work report at the opening session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), chairman Wang Yang, for the second year in a row, stopped short of mentioning “one country, two systems”, the governing formula that grants Hong Kong a degree of autonomy.

Instead, he called on members to speak up to support Beijing’s overhaul of the city’s electoral system and implementation of the fundamental principle of “patriots ruling Hong Kong”. The coming chief executive election has been postponed to May 8.

“[We] encourage Hong Kong delegates to … make suggestions surrounding patriotic education among Hong Kong and Macau youths, and the fight against the epidemic,” Wang said.

As the so-called two sessions or lianghui convened on Friday afternoon, Hong Kong logged 52,523 new Covid-19 infections, pushing the city’s overall tally to 403,080, more than triple of mainland China’s caseload.

In his speech to thousands of members assembled in the Great Hall of the People, Wang said under President Xi Jinping’s leadership, the Communist Party and the central government had responded calmly to the pandemic, with important consultative sessions and diplomatic exchanges being resumed last year.

But there were deficiencies in the work of national advisers, he said, referring to the “quality and standard” of their advice, the effectiveness of building consensus, their connections with the people and sense of responsibility.

“[Delegates] have to firmly express views at critical times … which could resolve conflicts and enhance unity among the masses in different sectors,” Wang said.

The year’s gatherings of the CPPCC and the National People’s Congress (NPC), the city’s top legislature, saw the most absentees from Hong Kong, with nearly half being unable to attend the meetings in person for reasons related to the city’s surge in infections.

The city has 36 local deputies of the NPC and 202 delegates to the CPPCC who were invited to the two sessions.

Former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, also a vice-chairman of the CPPCC, stayed in Hong Kong for “recuperation” after surgery. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor turned down an invitation to Beijing, citing her “overriding mission” to lead the city to tame the recent outbreak, while her predecessor Leung Chun-ying attended the gathering.

CPPCC standing committee member Henry Tang Ying-yen, who remained in Hong Kong due to potential exposure to Covid-19 patients, said after watching a live broadcast of the session that Wang had reminded them to “keep abreast of the times” in fulfilling their obligations, and unite among themselves for anti-epidemic efforts.

CPPCC delegate Pang Cheung-wai, from the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, proposed extending the one country, two systems principle for another 50 years after 2047.

The advisory body’s annual conference has been compressed to a week, down from the usual two weeks, amid strict epidemic-control measures. Leung had said upon arrival in Beijing that all attending delegates remained under a “closed-loop management” system for the whole meeting.