Covid 19 – Hong Kong Perspective 2

Picture adopted from WHO with thanks

Wow, today is the first day since early March that HK has ZERO confirmed new cases of cornavirus!

The Chief Executive just announced social distancing will continue until 7 May. This has been calmly accepted by local residents here without any questioning. In stark contrast, there are protests in many countries against lock down and social distancing. It can be partly explained that there is a difference in culture. Here in the East, we do not see the opposite of freedom as tyranny but one of discipline. We know our economy will be damaged, we accept this because we treasure life more than economic growth.

This post is a sequel to my earlier post on the topic.

There was a fierce second wave of the conravirus attack. In the first wave, the traffic and border with mainland China was closed off. That was successfully dealt with and the number of confirmed cases dropped.

The second wave attack were brought about by returnees from USA and Europe ( mainly the UK). HK has lots of students, businessmen etc residing in these countries in which the virus infection was rapidly rising. These people flew back to HK despite escalated air fares, as they think they will have better medical care and treatment in HK.

There was another group of people travelling in Peru and other South American countries. They were trapped and couldn’t return to HK. Government chartered flights to bring them back to London and from there to HK.

The second wave led to 60+ people per day diagnosed as positive for Covid 19 which was a quantum jump from the first wave.

Meanwhile bars, gyms, recreational areas are closed. People are required to have their temperatures checked before they are allowed to enter into a restaurant. No more than 4 people can sit together in a table which is separated from other tables by at least 1.5m.

Disregarding this restriction, 40 people including a lousy and militant woman legislator met one night in a bar for some unknown purpose. She claimed immunity which clearly is a nonsense. I hope the bar and this legislator will be prosecuted.

We do not know whether there will be a third wave attack when schools resume and civil servants return to work later. WHO has today warned that lockdown and resumption to work and production cannot proceed just because the peak has been reached. This applies, as I see it, to the States. We cannot afford to be complacent.

I cannot travel outside now as the airport is open to people travelling to HK only. The implication is that, weather permitting, I will do my hiking almost every day and post photos of my encounters there.

As I write, I feel gratitude to the local medical people and government officials who have tackled this in a professional manner, without the procrastination, blame others mentality, or the ignorance of trying to get herd immunity ( as in the UK).

With a population of 7.4 M people and a huge interface and people / good movements with mainland China, our statistics speak for itself:

Coronavirus cases : 1026

Deaths: 4

Recovered: 630

Well done, Hong Kong 🙂