18-07-2021, 07:58 PM
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/03/how-hong...kdown.html
When Apple closed its retail stores around the globe amid the coronavirus pandemic, a handful of outlets were exempt, including its six locations in Hong Kong.
In fact, much of Hong Kong has felt relatively normal this year compared with its peers, which enacted strict lockdown measures.
Since its first confirmed case of Covid-19 on Jan. 22, Hong Kong went through phased closures of government offices, schools, gyms and bars. But other services were relatively unaffected, including dine-in service at restaurants, shops, malls, and trains.
Today, office workers are back to business and the city has reopened its gyms and even nightclubs.
By all accounts, Hong Kong’s situation could have been bad. It’s one of the world’s densest cities. Public transit is often packed. There are even direct flights and trains from Wuhan, the Chinese city where Covid-19 first emerged late last year. In fact, more than 2.5 million people arrived from mainland China in January alone.
With a population of 7.5 million people, Hong Kong has recorded around 1,200 cases. Singapore, by comparison has had more than 43,000 cases, amid an outbreak in migrant worker housing. That caused the city-state to enact lockdown measures for more than two months.
In contrast, Hong Kong had consecutive weeks of zero new cases.
Hong Kong managed to avoid a lockdown while containing — and to a large extent — eliminating Covid-19.
Here’s five reasons why Hong Kong managed to avoid lockdown while defeating Covid-19:
1. Experience
Many people in Hong Kong remember living through the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003.
“We had never experienced something like that at that time,” Leah Choi told CNBC recalling her experience of growing up in Hong Kong. “But because of our experience during SARS, the Hong Kong people are much more alert.”
Choi recalled teachers taking her temperature and having to wear face masks all the time.
“Today, the Hong Kong people are much more diligent when facing the coronavirus outbreak, where we know what to do because we already had an experience of what could happen if we don’t take all these safety measures against the virus,” she said.
2. Decisive border control & strict quarantine measures
Hong Kong closed nine of its 12 border checkpoints in late January, leaving the remaining three open to facilitate the flow of goods. As the situation evolved, the city banned all non-residents from entering, starting on March 25. By early April, there were only about 100 daily visitor arrivals and those who arrived had to undergo a strict 14-day quarantine.
3. Contact tracing
Contact tracing is a method of locating people who may have been exposed to Covid-19. In many cases, these people are instructed to self-isolate for 14 days to monitor for any potential symptoms. The practice has been used extensively across many Asian countries during the coronavirus pandemic.
4. Centralized government
Hong Kong’s relatively small population has made it easier for the government to monitor and control the movement of its people as opposed to places with bigger populations.
5. Cultural habits
Professor Fukuda, who previously worked at the World Health Organization, has lived in both the U.S. and Asia. He thinks cultural outlook has played a large role in the way the outbreak has been contained in the latter.
“If you can get people and the government to work together, it’s an amazingly powerful combination,” he said. “There’s a very high consciousness about not wanting to affect other people and not wanting to put them at risk. So, when the public says, we’re part of the reason why things are going well, it’s absolutely true.
When Apple closed its retail stores around the globe amid the coronavirus pandemic, a handful of outlets were exempt, including its six locations in Hong Kong.
In fact, much of Hong Kong has felt relatively normal this year compared with its peers, which enacted strict lockdown measures.
Since its first confirmed case of Covid-19 on Jan. 22, Hong Kong went through phased closures of government offices, schools, gyms and bars. But other services were relatively unaffected, including dine-in service at restaurants, shops, malls, and trains.
Today, office workers are back to business and the city has reopened its gyms and even nightclubs.
By all accounts, Hong Kong’s situation could have been bad. It’s one of the world’s densest cities. Public transit is often packed. There are even direct flights and trains from Wuhan, the Chinese city where Covid-19 first emerged late last year. In fact, more than 2.5 million people arrived from mainland China in January alone.
With a population of 7.5 million people, Hong Kong has recorded around 1,200 cases. Singapore, by comparison has had more than 43,000 cases, amid an outbreak in migrant worker housing. That caused the city-state to enact lockdown measures for more than two months.
In contrast, Hong Kong had consecutive weeks of zero new cases.
Hong Kong managed to avoid a lockdown while containing — and to a large extent — eliminating Covid-19.
Here’s five reasons why Hong Kong managed to avoid lockdown while defeating Covid-19:
1. Experience
Many people in Hong Kong remember living through the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003.
“We had never experienced something like that at that time,” Leah Choi told CNBC recalling her experience of growing up in Hong Kong. “But because of our experience during SARS, the Hong Kong people are much more alert.”
Choi recalled teachers taking her temperature and having to wear face masks all the time.
“Today, the Hong Kong people are much more diligent when facing the coronavirus outbreak, where we know what to do because we already had an experience of what could happen if we don’t take all these safety measures against the virus,” she said.
2. Decisive border control & strict quarantine measures
Hong Kong closed nine of its 12 border checkpoints in late January, leaving the remaining three open to facilitate the flow of goods. As the situation evolved, the city banned all non-residents from entering, starting on March 25. By early April, there were only about 100 daily visitor arrivals and those who arrived had to undergo a strict 14-day quarantine.
3. Contact tracing
Contact tracing is a method of locating people who may have been exposed to Covid-19. In many cases, these people are instructed to self-isolate for 14 days to monitor for any potential symptoms. The practice has been used extensively across many Asian countries during the coronavirus pandemic.
4. Centralized government
Hong Kong’s relatively small population has made it easier for the government to monitor and control the movement of its people as opposed to places with bigger populations.
5. Cultural habits
Professor Fukuda, who previously worked at the World Health Organization, has lived in both the U.S. and Asia. He thinks cultural outlook has played a large role in the way the outbreak has been contained in the latter.
“If you can get people and the government to work together, it’s an amazingly powerful combination,” he said. “There’s a very high consciousness about not wanting to affect other people and not wanting to put them at risk. So, when the public says, we’re part of the reason why things are going well, it’s absolutely true.
