My third and last compulsory PCR test – day six after release from quarantine – is this morning. Hong Kong Covid policies being the gift that keeps on giving, I must still take a daily RAT test for a few days, and upload a pic thereof to a government app. Chances are no-one will notice if you just ignore this whole thing, but I’m not keen on finding out when there are fines and prison sentences on offer for delinquents. Obviously, I wouldn’t dream of sending a pic of the same used test cartridge for days in a row.
As whining reaches a new crescendo, another incremental relaxation of quarantine requirements – to 0+7 – looks possible. In order to go ahead, officials face the challenge of finding a coherent and credible reason why, after relying on misleading stats to insist the previous stupidity was essential, they can now move away from it. ‘We suddenly realized it was stupid’ is presumably not an option…
Clearly it would be foolish to suppose that I am the only person who has noticed that policy is now being made on the basis of fictitious statistics. The danger is not just that erroneous fears or hopes could lead to misguided policies. The danger is that people will entirely lose faith in the government’s public health efforts.
If you think that’s tough, how will Beijing explain an abandonment of zero-Covid – to Guiyang residents, for example, if and when it ever happens? (And will they make an announcement that when it’s OK to touch foreigners again?)
Thread by a guy at TriviumChina on why Beijing won’t end zero-Covid before sometime in 2023
Some links…
BBC video on the UK’s new migrants from Hong Kong. And a video on Hongkongers learning to change plugs and caulk bathtubs before emigrating to do-it-yourself societies. Article here.
Merics on why, to Xi Jinping, everything is about national security.
And ‘color revolutions’ must be prevented.
Color revolutions must be prevented, unless it involves the installation of a bought individual as the new China friendly autocrat in the Solomon Islands
Don’t forget there’s also “One Way”, a two-part video of Hong Kongers leaving for and living in the UK. An excellent documentary from the equally excellent (Singaporean) CNA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMaKLwqU3vI
Pro tip: don’t keep sending a photo of the same cartridge. Take them all on the same day when you know you are negative. You will just landfill the extras anyways. The “not infected” indication lasts for months and it’s good to have extras in a pinch if you accidentally use an indelible marker on one to get into a bar. At least that’s what I’ve heard.
*Princess Anne voice*
Hotels orf the teat of forced occupancy will be a real wrench for the poor dears.
A few weeks ago, the uploading of Rats was optional after DQH. There was conflicting, confusing info provided in my DQH but I established that one just needed to take a pic of RAT, keep a written record and the pic for a month. Did they change the rule?