Everyone in Hong Kong is angry, and justifiably so!

Bulbuls looking distinctly cold and windblown

on a gray winter's day in Hong Kong

 

Hong Kong registered another record number day of new coronavirus cases today -- and in so doing, saw those numbers break through the 7,000 mark to hit 7,533 cases (of which only 3 were imported ones).  In addition, 16 new Covid deaths were reported -- one of whom was that of Hong Kong's youngest Covid victim ever: a babe who was just 11 months old.  Another unhappy mark passed: Hong Kong's total number of Covid deaths (321) has now surpassed the total number of SARS deaths (299).  In fact, Hong Kong's Covid death toll surpassed that of SARS yesterday.   

With Hong Kong reeling from these unprecedented numbers, it's really not assuring to feel that the authorities appear to be buckling under pressure.  Some examples: at yesterday's press conference, the Hospital Authority (HA)'s Dr Sarah Ho did not provide exact information as to how many serious Covid cases there were while the Centre of Health Protection (CHP)'s Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan declined to reveal the number of preliminary positive cases found.  And, in all honesty, I'm not sure which is more disconcerting: the thought that they are unwilling or unable to do so!

 

Also, in all honesty, I never thought that I'd find myself agreeing with Mainland Chinese experts about pretty much anything -- but Hong Kong government pandemic advisor David Hui said today that his Mainland Chinese counterparts "had suggested that the Hospital Authority (HA) gives a more detailed account of Covid-related deaths, such as whether the deceased were vaccinated, had suffered long-term illnesses and whether their families agreed to give up on treatment.  "They think if the death cases are not communicated well, it may scare the public and even the leaders," he said, adding that he believed more details could be provided to the public during the daily press briefing."  And yes, I am certainly on board with that!

 

In addition, you know that the Hong Kong government has really messed up when not only is it safe to say that everyone in Hong Kong is angry at what's going on but you also have pro-Beijing media start criticizing them in front page headlines.  And that's what been happening in recent days, with: yesterday's Oriental Daily having a headline stating that "Hong Kongers suffer, officials hide" and cartoon depicting government officials sporting execution orders on their backs; and today's edition of the same newspaper continuing to trumpet that the authorities are "useless against the pandemic, causing the suffering of many".  

 

And yes, one's blood help boiling and blood pressure go up upon seeing the measures being thought up by the Hong Kong government.  Consider, for example, how many people have had to wait how many hours in long lines and in the cold rain on Saturday, yesterday and today (and continuing until tomorrow and beyond, with cold, wet weather predicted for Hong Kong for at least another couple of days) for mandatory Covid testing.  And behold the horror of the "community isolation facility" newly constructed to house those who tested Covid positive but have no or just mild symptoms that looks even more nightmarish than the infamous quarantine facilities at Penny's Bay.  

 

And their "allies" really are not much better.  I previously praised some Mainland Chinese representatives but now am going back to being critical of them -- specifically, with regards to their donating 150,000 boxes of "anti-epidemic traditional Chinese herbal meds" (which, to make things worse, has been accepted with thanks by a senior Hong Kong government official rather than exposed as quackery!).  

 

Then there's the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) deciding to take a leaf from Britain's  "Clap for our Carers" campaign and get Hong Kongers to clap for "to gather energy for the medical workers".  Okay, I'm not a medical staffer myself but I'm still pretty sure that Hong Kong's frontline medical workers would prefer people to help them deal with the coronavirus (including by going and getting vaccinated with the BioNTech vaccine) and not further overload hospitals (and thereby causing patients to die as a result of triage failure). 

 

Speaking of Covid deaths and vaccinations: there finally is an article out there -- courtesy of the Hong Kong Free Press -- about Saturday's revelation by Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan that "almost 90 per cent of fifth-wave Covid-19 deaths analysed by Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP) occurred among unvaccinated patients".  I'll leave the last word (for now) on this to microbiology professor Dr Siddharth Sridhar: "Pretty much exactly the breakdown one would expect. COVID deaths are largely vaccine preventable. The rest of the world has been screaming this at us for the last year."