HOW HONG KONG FLATTENED THE CURVE OF THE COVID-19 VIRUS
SLIGO NATIVE OLIVER FARRY, NOW BASED IN HONG KONG, EXPLAINS HOW THE REGION HAS CONTAINED THE VIRUS.
AS the Covid-19 outbreak continues to pick up pace in Europe and the United States, it is slowing down in parts of Asia. Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, has managed to keep the outbreak under control, despite a 19 mile long border with mainland China, and a population of nearly seven and a half million.
People in the city have continued to be careful, and there has not been a need for similar draconian restrictions that were put in place in mainland China to try to slow down the spread.
At the time of writing, there were 800 cases in Hong Kong, with four deaths reported.
The relatively low numbers of cases can most likely be attributed to the closure of borders, and the fact that locals have learned from previous outbreaks such as SARS.
The virus arrived in Hong Kong late in January, believed to be brought there by people who had travelled from mainland China. Despite being present in the city for well over two months, the number of people confirmed to have the virus has increased at a very gradual pace.
Oliver Farry, a journalist and writer based in Hong Kong, is originally from Sligo. While the number of cases is relatively low, he says that people are on high alert.
Speaking to The Sligo Champion, he said: “Things aren’t so bad here compared to many other places. We just hit 800 cases today (Thursday) and there have been still only four deaths.
“People are still on alert though, as cases have risen from 100 a month ago, the vast majority of them originating from outside the city, be they expats returning home from holidays or Hongkongers studying abroad who returned.
“People have started to get extra careful again in the last few weeks though thankfully we haven’t yet reached the stage where we’re not allowed to leave our homes.”
Hong Kong’s experience of SARS meant that as soon as Covid-19 began to spread, people knew what they had to do to help stop the spread. People feel that communities got ahead of the government when it came to imposing measures. The government was slow to close the borders with the mainland, but the measure was eventually taken.
Oliver explained: “Because Hong Kong had 38% of the global deaths from SARS in 2003, people here were already preparing when news from Wuhan broke on December 31.
“Everyone went into hand-washing mode and most people wore masks early on,
which helped slow the spread of the virus and also meant extreme social-distancing measures were never needed.
“In many ways, the people were ahead of the government on this, as it dallied over closing the border with the mainland before it finally imposed restrictions in early February. The schools have been closed since before Chinese New Year and there’s no sign of them opening again anytime soon.
“The measures worked very well at first but then the second wave of imported cases proved to be a far bigger challenge.”
The people of Hong Kong have made their feelings towards their Government very clear in the last year. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest against the Government’s introduction of a bill that would have allowed criminals to be extradited to mainland China. The bill was then withdrawn in September but the protests continued.
Even though the government moved quickly to try to contain Covid-19, people still feel as though they could have done more.
Oliver added: “Given the Hong Kong government’s popularity is at an all-time low, few people want to give them any credit. In a poll this week, 70% of people said the community response was the reason for the low number of cases, not the government. To be fair, the government has responded far better than any Western government has, though you’d really expect them to have.
“Even so, they failed to assure a sufficient supply of face masks ahead of time, and doctors went on strike in January to call for the border with the mainland to be closed.
“People are now worried that the government might, under duress from Beijing, lift restrictions on travel to and from the mainland prematurely, before the pandemic has been fully stamped out in China.”
Measures have been taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in Hong Kong, but because people are so careful themselves, the restrictions are not quite as strict as here in the Republic of Ireland and indeed other European countries.
“The schools are still closed and a lot of companies and government offices have started workfrom-home again after a break of a few weeks.
“Travel has more or less been stopped. Tourists can’t enter or even make transit stops until further notice and anyone arriving into the city has to be quarantined for 14 days.
“Even close contacts of confirmed cases are quarantined too. It’s fairly draconian but it has kept cases low. Cinemas, concert venues and places of worship are all closed but life continues as normal otherwise.
“You can still go to the shops and walk in the street, and, because practically everyone wears a mask, you don’t have to worry too much about keeping two metres away from others.”
Nightclubs, karaoke lounges and man jong parlours only closed as of last week, while the government announced on Thursday all bars and restaurants will close for two weeks.
“It’s not terribly severe, given that there isn’t much of the virus left to pass around,” Oliver said.
“I expect them to be open in two weeks. Restaurants can still open but only at 50 per cent capacity.
“There are no restrictions on people’s movements though you’re not supposed to have gatherings of more than four people, except for special circumstances.”
Hospitals are coping with cases so far, but a sudden and dramatic increase in severe cases could put pressure on healthcare staff and facilities, similar to here in Ireland.
“The hospitals are doing OK but medical staff are very conscious of how quickly that could change. Though Hong Kong knows how to handle epidemics and has universal healthcare, it is still short on ICU beds – having roughly the same amount per capita as Ireland.
“The hospitals also get overrun during the winter flu season, though that was less severe this year because people were being extra careful.
At the moment, there are only five critical COVID-19 cases and the biggest worry for doctors is they might have to only hospitalise severe cases (at the moment, everyone gets a bed). That’s a luxury most other countries would love to have.”
Despite the outbreak of the virus, the protests have continued, albeit they have become smaller and less regular.
“Oliver says protests are expected to return with ‘as much ferocity’ as last year as soon as the virus dies down. The protests have got a lot smaller and less regular since the start of the outbreak but there have been a few every other week, including as recently as Tuesday night.
“The police are still coming down on them with a heavy hand and the government is even less popular now than it was before the pandemic. Whenever the outbreak dies down, and because Hong Kong is sealed off now, that will happen here before it does in most other places, the protests will kick off again with as much ferocity as last year.”
It’s more than likely too late for European countries and the United States, but perhaps lessons can be learned from Hong Kong’s response to the outbreak.