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Coronavirus Hong Kong
OpinionComment
Peter Kammerer
Peter Kammerer

Shades Off | Hong Kong is testing public patience with even stricter Covid-19 rules

  • I, like most Hongkongers, have dutifully been vaccinated, lined up for testing, and followed social distancing rules, no matter how confusing
  • Compliance has been rewarded with ever stricter measures. How much longer can the government expect us to cooperate?

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Police officers stand guard outside a residential building placed under lockdown in Kwai Chung Estate, on January 25. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
Peter Kammerer

As far as model citizens go in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, I believe I have done a first-rate job. With the announcement of each vaccine roll-out, I have promptly got a jab. When I was recently notified there were cases in the building I live in, I was among the first in line for a test the following morning. If I’m asked to scan the QR code on my Leave Home Safe app or show my vaccination record, I have no qualms.

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As self-congratulatory as I am, though, I am not exceptional among the people I know; they all do as I do. In fact, I don’t know anyone who is unvaccinated or goes out of their way to avoid the rules. There are plenty of accounts of people being fined for violating regulations, but they are not in my circle of friends or contacts. Unsurprisingly, then, we wonder why we have not been rewarded by authorities for being so civic-minded.

04:52

Breaking down Hong Kong's dynamic zero Covid-19 strategy

Breaking down Hong Kong's dynamic zero Covid-19 strategy
With the coronavirus swamping the city in a fifth wave of infections, driven by the Omicron variant, we don’t feel vulnerable to severe illness given our vaccination status. It is likely, given the high-transmissibility of the virus, that a number of us may have already had it, but our strengthened immunity means we have fought it off and not noticed.

Still, as rules requiring proof of vaccination to shop and eat out take effect, nothing has changed when it comes to quarantining and travel. Regardless of whether we have symptoms, a positive test result means in-person isolation from others for weeks.

With President Xi Jinping having ordered authorities to go all-out to stop the spread of the virus, even tougher restrictions are on the way. Mainland help has started arriving and testing has been stepped up; citywide screening has been foreshadowed. Rapid antigen test kits are being given to us and we will presumably be expected to test ourselves regularly and tell authorities of a positive result.
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Honesty about testing positive leads to spending weeks away from loved ones, friends and work colleagues. Those we know or interact with have their lives disrupted or are inconvenienced. Even if we do not have symptoms, we will be treated as if we have a deadly disease.

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