Open cinemas no longer the norm -- and, soon in Hong Kong, bars and restaurants serving alcohol too!

Message on the big screen before the movie began

when I was at the cinema last week

How the alternate seats rule was enforced there!

In what its government would like people to see as a sign that life may be returning to normal there -- and that the country is winning its fight against the deadly coronavirus which was first detected in Wuhan back in November -- some 500 cinemas have reopened for business in Mainland China.  But while the Communist Chinese regime is reporting today -- like it has for some days now -- that all of its new Wuhan coronavirus cases are imported rather than local, I think it would be wise to not entirely trust the official pronouncements and rhetoric; this not least when reports are coming out of the city where it all began that there are still people coming down with the disease but are not being tested and not given the medical treatment they need(ed). 

While movie theaters in many other countries (including Italy, France, Britain, Ireland and Malaysia)  have been closed -- and still remaining shuttered -- because of the global pandemic's spreading in earnest within their borders, Hong Kong cinemas are far from the norm in having stayed open every day of 2020 thus far.  And because they have introduced a number of preventative measures (including requiring temperature checks before admission, the wearing of masks inside theaters and putting in place seating arrangements geared to ensure sufficient physical distance between audience members), they are generally looked upon as safe areas to be in; this even though a couple of cinemas in the territory have been confirmed as sites where people infected with the Wuhan coronavirus had visited.

In contrast, bars and restaurants have been fingered as places where the Wuhan coronavirus has been spread.  First up, was what has come to be known as the case of the hotpot family, a number tested positive for the highly infectious disease after getting together for a hotpot and barbecue dinner on the second day of Chinese New Year.  More recently, the bar and restaurant area of Lan Kwai Fong became known as a "coronavirus hot spot" after a number of people who visited it came down with the coronavirus.

Two days ago, I wondered in a post how long more bars and restaurants in Hong Kong would be allowed to operate.  While they still have not been ordered to close just yet, Carrie Lam announced this afternoon that her government is planning to temporarily ban these Hong Kong businesses from selling alcohol because, she believes, "often when you go to a bar, you take off your face masks, have a drink, chat, sometimes people get a bit intimate when they’re drunk, and this will raise the risk of cross infection”!

Put another way: the woman who seems to erroneously think that Hong Kongers are misbehaving children, and that she is the mother who needs to teach them lessons, appears to think that drinking alcohol inevitably leads to drunkenness and that then leads to casual sex which, in our current times, leads to increased Wuhan coronavirus cases in the city!  At the same time, by not closing down bars and restaurants, she also seems to be declaring that people getting together to eat at those same establishments -- and in however large a group -- is fine so long as they don't imbibe any alcohol when doing so!!

To be sure, I know of certain drinking establishments that are considered pick-up joints and others whose cramming together of a whole bunch of people, some of whom like to walk around in the place, make me feel really uncomfortable at a time when social distancing is highly encouraged.  But I also know of bars which most certainly are not looked upon as places to find a partner for a one night stand, where there often is a lot of space between seats and where the customers are discouraged from standing around, never mind moving about a lot!    

All in all, the distinct feeling I get is that Carrie Lam hasn't been to too many bars -- and probably doesn't even drink any alcohol (or if she does, is liable to get rather loose upon doing so!).  Also, she doesn't seem to know about "Club 7-Eleven" -- as it sounds like the Hong Kong government is not going to ban convenience stores as well as supermarkets and specialist alcohol shops from selling alcohol, only bars and restaurants!

At the same press conference, the lowest rated Chief Executive in Hong Kong's history (we're talking an abysmal 9.1% approval rate here!) also announced that Hong Kong will be closing its borders, for two weeks beginning this Wednesday, for all non-residents of the city bar for those coming in from Macau, Taiwan and Mainland China.  At this point in time, I guess it stands to reason that those people from those three territories should be exempt since there officially are few active Wuhan coronavirus cases there.  Just think though: how much more efficiently Hong Kong could have stemmed the influx of the Wuhan coronavirus into the territory if Hong Kong had closed its borders to people from Mainland China when it was the only country in the world known to have coronavirus cases!

And if all this doesn't make you angry enough, consider these two snippets of news from Mainland China: firstly, China's People Daily (a government newspaper) has been celebrating there being more Wuhan coronavirus cases outside of China than within it (for the record, the global total number of confirmed cases is currently 360,327 as I write this but probably will be higher by the time you read this line); and if you think that's already bad, here's a picture of an inflatable arch installed somewhere in that country with the declarations "Celebrate the US's epidemic; wish Japan's epidemic last very long" printed on it!