Am I the only person in Hong Kong who didn’t get the Government End Of The World Panic Alert Freak Out thing about Queen Elizabeth Hospital on my phone? It seems not – a small and no doubt select group of us did not receive the emergency message, with the (by all accounts) near-terrifying audio alarm that led some to believe the city was under imminent nuclear attack. We missed out on that little excitement. (I have decided that the only way to stay sane in Hong Kong is to treat the whole time and place as an existentialist endurance-thrill.)
The government officially announces its new Covid policy – prioritizing the saving of lives rather than organizing elaborate and futile lockdowns and mass-testing. There is an unspoken parallel priority, namely presenting whatever happens as a heroic Beijing-dominated victory. Expect continued warfare analogies and endless expressions of gratitude for Mainland contributions of manpower and quack herbal medicines as infections peak and the virus burns out naturally. If mass-testing ever does go ahead, its only purpose will be to save face – presumably without lockdowns.
And what then? Continued restrictions on travel even as other countries drop quarantine requirements – just so we can be in step with the motherland? ‘Zero dynamic overseas travel’. Or will they find a way to present common sense as a gift from Beijing?
Questions and (rather pointed) answers about how Hong Kong got to this and what happens next…
We are likely already at herd immunity as our wave peaked a few days ago.
…[before we could have] a rational plan of a graduated transition to living with Covid. Under this scenario border controls are already unnecessary and they could certainly be removed by the end of March. There is no reason why our city could not be getting back to relatively normal life within 2 to 3 months.
And a helpful guide to Covid rapid antigen tests.
I have no doubt that when travel does resume at a somewhat regular level, Hong Kong residents will be required to wear a PPE suit at all times, whilst away. Upon return, they will be asked to sit in a room to be bathed in UV lighting to disinfect. In some cases, like if they go to America, they will be required to take a santisation robot with them, and keep it charged, so that it can be released in whatever new building they may visit as a tourist.
“Common sense presented as a gift from Beijing” is not unprecedented. Indeed it would be the perfect description of the entire growth spurt we have witnessed since they stopped melting down silverware and murdering their smartest capitalist entrepreneurs up north
I had all the excitement of the QEH message without actually receiving it, as I was sitting next to my wife in the car when the sudden loud alarm on her phone nearly caused her to veer off the road. Nothing on mine.
Nothing on my phone.
Nothing on son’s phone, as he has turned off govt notifications on his phone.
Wife and her friends did a massive simultaneous Facebook freakout.
Very amusing & gratifying to some heartless observers.
I think HK is in line for some gratitude training to thank XJP for rescuing us. Surprised none of our local patriots has suggested it yet
I didn’t get the alert either. My phone’s too old. It’s not on the approved list of those to be alerted: https://app2.ofca.gov.hk/apps/eas/onlineEnquiry?lang=en
Where does that leave me if there is a real emergency?
@ Urban
‘Where does that leave me if there is a real emergency?’
– Better off.
Anyone notice the photo of the San Tin community isolation unit on the front page of HKFP? Chairs, bed sheets, cabinets, etc all done up in the colors of Ukraine. Coincidence??
Speaking of colors.
With the yellows vanquished is HK is heading for a new color revolution?
Reds vs Blues?
Socialist revolutions are characterized by factional infighting.
History suggests the blues (HK Standard tycoon class patriots + $$$) will get no credit for their patriotism from the reds (SCMP govt apparatchik patriots + popo and triads) in any struggle for influence.
Discuss.
The isolation units seem generally agreed to be a complete waste of time and HK resources. So what do with this white elephant once the number of cases drops? Turn the lot into pre-fab houses and relocate the public housing tenants currently sitting in prime areas for redevelopment, no doubt.
@Fenton
Two (Kai Tak & Penny’s Bay) are slated to be “permanent”. Now what would the CCP want with permanent isolation facilities for 9,500 people in a place so strapped for real estate that we simply have to build artificial islands to house the poor? You might very well think Xinjiang-style “re-education”; I couldn’t possibly comment.
@chinese netizen
Aren’t the colours of the Ukraine flag also displayed by the SCMP icon on their website?
@Probably: Wouldn’t know. Haven’t gone there in years.