Self-discipline is required for life in city to return to normal
Hong Kong’s retail sales plummeted by 44 percent in February from a year earlier, making it the steepest dive on record. This shocked many and painted a depressing picture of Hong Kong’s economic situation after being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s words, the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on the local economy was unprecedented, especially in the retail and hospitality sectors. These are the lifelines for far more local residents than any other industry in terms of jobs. Without question, the struggle will continue until the novel coronavirus is contained, as business activities will return to normal only after temporary restrictions on social gathering are lifted. This justifies the SAR government’s move to soon launch the second round of anti-epidemic relief funds to help small and midsize businesses cope with tough times, and also to ensure hard hit individuals can survive.
The SAR government, led by Lam, has done a respectable job fighting to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic despite various obstacles, such as politically motivated stalling by opposition lawmakers of the government’s emergency funding request, unreasonable obstruction to the health authority’s efforts to set up quarantine facilities and often ill-advised breaches of compulsory self-quarantine by some selfish and irresponsible members of the public. The number of confirmed
COVID-19 cases has more than doubled in just a week to over 700 as of Tuesday. These numbers once again prove the biggest challenge right now is to prevent, through effective quarantines and social distancing, the imported virus from running loose. That requires concerted efforts by everybody in this city. It is disheartening that quite a few local residents continue to live the way they did previously, being oblivious to health warnings issued by medical experts.
Members of the public are strongly urged to be responsible for the well-being of local communities as well as their own families by faithfully following all temporary rules and regulations designed to contain the spread of COVID-19. Don’t ever assume it is ever okay to violate a rule or two once in a while because the government cannot afford to let anyone get away with such selfish behavior when the health of 7.5 million Hong Kong residents are at stake. People must understand that strict quarantine and social-distancing measures are the only way to contain the pandemic when no vaccines are available, so daily business and social activities can recover as soon as possible. Without putting COVID-19 under effective control, there is no hope of continuing to live the way we did; and no government relief measures are sufficient to lift us out of the current predicament. Self-discipline is the key to ensuring life returns to normal.