Focusing on the fight against the Wuhan coronavirus but also keeping an eye on governmental shenanigans

Way fewer people out in Causeway Bay yesterday

than is usually the case for a Sunday afternoon

And while Temple Street does usually come more alive after dark,

I'd never seen it looking so dead before as yesterday afernoon :(

I realize that I am starting to sound like a broken record but Hong Kong had yet another record-breaking day today as far as its number of new daily Wuhan coronavirus cases go -- with 145 new infections, only three of which were not local transmissions.  The previous day had actually not been seen a new record being set -- but even so, it was concerning, and undoubtedly an added burden to the already super stretched public hospital system, that there were 128 new cases reported yesterday.  Also record-breaking today was the number of Wuhan coronavirus fatalities: four within 24 hours; bringing the total number up to 22 (and making it so that Hong Kong has lost 15 lives to the coronavirus in the past 15 days).

Viewed from a certain perspective then, it was inevitable and warratned that the authorities would announce further anti-coronavirus measures and that they'd be the toughest introduced to date.  Among the more notable: restaurants being barred from offering any dine-in services for (at least) a week starting from this Wednesday; a ban of public gatherings of more than two people (with the only exceptions being if they involve members of the same household, and on public transportation); and face masks being mandatory in all public spaces, outdoor as well as indoor.  And yes, cinemas, bars and other venues previously ordered shut are to stay shuttered.

In addition, new rules were announced yesterday to limit the movement in Hong Kong of ship and air crews (starting also tomorrow) -- and, frankly, that decision is way overdue.  In view of a number of individuals that qualify for exemptions from quarantine on that now infamous long list with 33 categories of exempt people recently having been found to be carrying the coronavirus (including workers at the Sheung Shui slaughterhouse and a cross-border truck driver), the odds are pretty high that those having had at least a hand in breaking Hong Kong's recent 21 day streak of zero local transmissions came from at least one of those privileged categories of individuals exempted from undergoing the impressive sounding testing and quarantine process that Laurel Chor chronicled back in May (and which many of us had thought every person entering Hong Kong had been subjected to for some months now).

Actually, if anything, many Hong Kongers (including a number of medical experts) want more restrictions on people coming into Hong Kong -- or, at the very least, more stringent quarantining and testing of them.  Also, many (most) Hong Kongers have been bigger proponents of mask wearing than Carrie Lam and Co., and for longer (with Dr Ho Pak-leung crediting Hong Kongers' (near) universal mask-wearing for preventing the number of coronavirus cases in the territory for skyrocketing back in early March)!   

One reason why so many Hong Kongers have willingly worn masks for so long is that we hoped that by so doing, Hong Kongers would be spared restrictions on our movements.  But twice now, it seems that we've been sabotaged: back in March, by party animals and individuals who insisted on not only going to bars to drink but packing them in such as a way that it really made the coronavirus spread too easily; and, this time around, by the Hong Kong government with its quarantine loopholes and generally taking its eye off the coronavirus ball to focus on repressing and oppressing the people.

Indeed, even now, while people worry about such as coronavirus patients now needing to wait for hospital beds, the political persecutions are continuing apace; with actions taking place that make it look pretty much a certainty that a number -- if not all -- of the pro-democracy camp's candidates for the upcoming Legislative Council election (i.e., those who emerged as winners in the primaries that took place three weekends ago) are going to get disqualified from running on various grounds.  More specifically, a good number of these Legislative Council hopefuls are being subject to political screening by returning officers with no particular competence in constitutional law (some of whom are temporary replacements for ones who "just happened" to have decided to take leave for a time). 

At the same time, there's also the possibility that the Legislative Council elections will not take place this September or this year.  Already, veteran pro-Beijinger -- and former Legislative Council President -- Jasper Tsang has proposed that these elections be postponed for a year, ostensibly because of the ongoing Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.

But even while the Wuhan coronavirus is seriously plaguing Hong Kong at the moment, we all know that what the pro-Beijing camp (which, of course, includes the Hong Kong government) is fearing more is that it will suffer a big loss at the hands of voters once more, like was the case at last November's District Council elections.  For, as the headline of a recent article by political commentator Stephen Vines clearly states, "No one who expects to win an election wants it postponed"!