Not Everyone Understands Quarantine

At the airport people are given quarantine bracelets and stay home for 14 days

Yesterday reporters grilled Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor about people who had come back to Hong Kong and were supposed to be under home quarantine but were seen out and about. What should the public do? They asked.

She explained that people were given about two hours' grace to get straight home on whatever way, as it might be public transport. But after, that they should not leave their homes.

This 13-year-old ate dinner with her uncle (right)

However, last night eagle-eyed Hongkongers immediately saw people completely contravening the quarantine order, taking videos and pictures of them.

One was a 13-year-old girl who was out having dinner with her uncle, her bracelet clearly showing on her wrist and she made no attempt to hide it. Nor did she put on a mask after eating.

The man filming them claimed they should stay where they are as he had called the police, but they kept walking away. At first they tried to get a taxi, but the man filming warned the taxi driver the girl had a quarantine bracelet on and not to take them.

Eventually the police found the pair.

This woman went shopping with her quarantine bracelet

Then there was a woman, again showing her bracelet and grocery shopping with a haul of food. She was also criticized.

Anyone who violates the quarantine order can be prosecuted and face up to HK$25,000 in fines or six months in jail.

There were other cases of people cutting the bracelet and going out and bragging about what they had done on social media... only to be caught later.

Some people really can't take things seriously, like a contagious virus that could be deadly when spread to people with compromised immune systems.

Carrie Lam teared up, asking people to respect quarantine

Lam even teared up during the press conference yesterday when she said: "To anyone who intends to breach the quarantine orders, anyone who still wants to go out and meet up with friends, can you not be restrained for some more time so Hong Kong can win this battle?"

Her pleas fell on deaf ears for some people.

Meanwhile McDonald's issued an announcement today that starting from tomorrow until April 7, all outlets will not allow customers to dine in all their Hong Kong outlets from 6pm, though they are allowed to order takeaway or have their meals delivered to them.

Perhaps people tend to linger more in the evenings than during the day?

While this move is completely understandable given the tense health situation we are in, this also means Hong Kong's many homeless people will have no where to go at night.

Homeless won't be able to stay overnight in McDonald's now

These "McRefugees" usually come into these places to not only use the washroom, but also shelter from the cold or heat, and have a cheap meal. Staff are usually sympathetic and let them stay. But this new rule will force the McRefugees to find another place to stay for the night.

Meanwhile after more than two-month lockdown, Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, is finally breathing some fresh air, with residents slowly allowed to go outdoors in the neighbourhood.

However, not all is well in China... if anything the weeks of being stuck at home to keep safe from the coronavirus has resulted in a spike in... divorces.

State media Global Times reports that since March 1 when the divorce appointment system reopened in Xi'an in Shaanxi province, the marriage registration office began receiving a slew of appointments. There were 14 of them on March 4 and 5, reaching the maximum daily limit.

Divorce rates spiked in Xi'an... why is that?

"As a result of the epidemic, many couples have been bound with each other at home for over a month, which evoked the underlying conflicts, and in addition, the office was closed for a month, so the office has seen an acutely increasing number of divorce appointments," said an official surnamed Wang.

"Usually the office sees a wave of divorce appointments after Spring Festival and after the college entrance examinations."

But by the same token, another official in Xi'an in another district office handling divorces reports that several of the divorce requests are impulse decisions, and some couples decide to remarry when their divorce certificate is being printed...