Visiting the Neighbourhood Clinic

Mostly elderly people come to this out-patient clinic for non-emergency care

This morning I went to the out-patient clinic in Kennedy Town to get the second of three tetanus shots. I had tried to make an appointment by telephone, but the messaging system didn't work and the voice mail instructed me to go to the clinic instead.

I'd never been before, but it's a five-minute walk from my home, which makes it very convenient.

The nurse at reception suggested I just get the injection done this morning and had me see another nurse, who took my temperature via my ear, who then told me to go back to the first nurse to register.

Some have taken to wearing masks as a precaution

After some paperwork and paying HK$19, I was given a slip with my number in the queue and was told to wait. No seats were available -- they were all occupied by elderly people, and they needed to sit more than me. Oh yes and wear a face mask please and clean your hands with anti-bacterial gel, even if you were accompanying the patient.

While I was waiting, another nurse in full gear -- splash-guard glasses, a blue disposable full-length tunic and of course a surgical mask, went around with a kind of gun aimed at people's foreheads to read their body temperatures. She seemed hyper vigilant about making sure people didn't have a running temperature in light of the Wuhan outbreak.

The vast majority of people there were elderly ones for the regular check-up of blood tests, or fixing their dressings. 

The medical clinic insisted every person wear a surgical mask

There was only one man in front of me in the "injection" queue, but I waited about 40 minutes -- at which point I almost asked the nurse if they could speed things up. Finally they called "no. 2" and I sat down in the chair with one of two nurses who did injections and collected blood for tests.

Despite being registered, she checked again to make sure my Hong Kong ID card number was the same as the one on my file before preparing the shot. And she also warned about possible side effects like swelling before asking if I had any last time which I said no.

Then she finally administered the shot in seconds, quickly put on a tiny band-aid and I was pretty much on my way.

That tiny microcosm of a place was obsessed with people wearing masks and having clean hands, but as soon as I stepped outside, no one cared -- and were actually fearful of me wearing a mask!

Interesting times we live in.