HK Govt Dithers as Cases Surge over 34K

People were out panic-buying in supermarkets today

There is never a dull moment in Hong Kong. The situation changes not only day by day but after a few hours, and it has resulted in people becoming more scared, depressed and helpless.

This morning people heard Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee on the radio, saying the government was not ruling out a lockdown in order to limit people's movements during universal testing in March.

Right away people rushed out to supermarkets and cleared out shelves, terrified they may not be allowed to leave their homes for days or weeks at a time.

Many shelves like these were empty

Some shoppers claimed they just wanted to be prepared with everyday items they normally buy, while one man claimed he had already done his panic shopping a few weeks ago but wanted to get "alcohol and ice cream in a crisis".

Interesting combo.

There were even rumours that supermarket chain ParkNShop would close all its outlets from March 7, and the company had to later issue a statement refuting the rumour, that business would operate as usual.

But that did not stop others from buying what they needed -- just in case.

Meanwhile a slew of wet markets have closed because of infections, from Kennedy Town to Sha Tin, Kwai Chung and Peng Chau.

Later Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor told RTHK that it would be good to have a lockdown so that citizens will "stop moving around" before the results came in, they were still studying this, including if they should halt all public transport and the stock market.

This totally contradicts what she said last Tuesday, that a citywide lockdown would not be needed. Scientifically it is ridiculous to allow people to still continue as normal while still being tested for the virus.

Lam now says a lockdown could be necessary

The flip-flopping is not helpful at all, and creating anxiety among people because not enough straight-forward information is being given.

Residents have not been told at all when the testing will actually begin, and at first it was suggested that people would be called according to their HKID card number, but now it seems it will be by family unit. There is no information about how the tests will be conducted, for how long, what happens if you are tested positive and what kind of medical treatment people should expect.

Everything is vague and officials are "still studying" different scenarios. Why are they dithering so much? When it came to the national security law, its implementation was swift and ruthless -- overnight. 

And now when it comes to a matter of life and death, the government is still deciding what to do?

Should we remind Lam and her colleagues that there were 34,466 cases today, only four of which were imported. One hundred and twenty-four people died, 87 of them in the past 24 hours, the others were backlogged.

Of the 87 who died, 67 were not vaccinated, 10 had taken one shot, the other 10 two shots. There is no further information on which vaccines they took, and 49 of the deaths were in elderly care homes.

Dr Albert Au Ka-wing, principal medical and health officer at the Centre for Health Protection gave some analysis of the first 442 fatalities in the fifth wave.

Au gave a breakdown of the 442 deaths so far

Four were between the ages of zero and nine;

Two were aged 10 to 19

19 were aged 20 to 59

35 were aged 60-69

80 were aged 70-79

292 were 80 and above.

The median age was 84.

A total of 359, or 81 percent were not vaccinated, while 44 had one shot, and 39 had two.

These numbers should be compelling enough to urge people to get vaccinated, but many still refuse to budge, mostly due to mistrust of the government. And given what the city has gone through since the anti-extradition protests in 2019 it is understandable the lack of trust in the authorities, but still, the numbers of deaths don't lie here.

Also shocking as mentioned yesterday is that dead bodies are not being transported to public mortuaries fast enough, and funeral homes are too scared to accept them, leaving families in a bind because they want to have a ceremony for their loved ones first. There are now options to have the bodies immediately sent to crematoriums, but not many are choosing this.

Isolation units being constructed in Tsing Yi

In Tsing Yi today isolation facilities are being built at a fast clip, though from pictures it seems there are bars on the windows, as if further punishing people for testing positive.

Can we also add that now there will be no notifications on people's Leave Home Safe apps because there are too many to record. So why even bother scanning the app now if it doesn't tell you that a shop or building you went to had someone who tested positive?

The disaster is unfolding very fast and furious, and yet the government is still deciding what to do... its lack of decisiveness has left us residents very worried and frustrated that we have to fend for ourselves. Staying health and getting vaccinated is the only protection we have.

Horrific Covid-19 Stories Continue

Easier job, more pay at isolation facility at AsiaWorld-Expo

Sorry for the repetitious refrain, but Hong Kong recorded a staggering 26,026 cases today, almost all of them local.

What is frightening is that bodies of those who succumbed to Covid-19 are piling up in hospitals and not enough resources to transport them to the public mortuary. Sounds like New York in the early stages of the pandemic and yet here we are more than two years later and Hong Kong is completely unprepared for the impending onslaught.

Check out fatalities for those 80 and over

The Centre for Health Protection and the Department of Health released data on the first 284 Covid-19-related deaths in the fifth wave, and a shocking 91 percent were not vaccinated. The vast majority of the deaths are those over 80 years old. 

Meanwhile staffing of hospitals is getting thinner and thinner, as not only doctors and nurses contract the virus, but also caregivers in public hospitals are being lured to a community isolation centre treating patients with mild symptoms in AsiaWorld-Expo near the airport with promises of salaries of up to HK$50,000 (US$6,403) a month.

There are worries many will resign and leave even more work for those left behind on the front lines of public hospitals which are treating seriously ill patients with Covid.

Nothing is done to alleviate the labour shortages in public hospitals and they are left to fend for themselves. 

Then there are tragic stories of people who are crammed in sub-divided flats and test positive. 

A couple slept in this stairwell for several days

There was one story of a construction worker who tested positive for the virus along with his wife and live with their children and extended family in a tiny flat. In order to self-isolate, the couple slept on the roof and when it was raining in the stairwell. They asked their family to give them a bucket of water and they defecated into plastic bags.

Another was a foreign domestic helper who was found sleeping in her employer's car after she tested positive. A volunteer group that helps foreign helpers managed to persuade her to go to a shelter and even had to help her call her employer to reassure her that she wouldn't be fired. She was literally locked in the car and couldn't leave to go to the washroom and had nothing to eat.

These two instances show how little comprehension the government has for people in precarious living conditions and what solutions they have for them, let along compassion.

In the end the couple was treated, but not before their children also became ill... 

And what is with all these lawmakers and government officials and their helpers and drivers all catching Covid? Sounds like the chauffeurs are all hanging out together... the latest is Police Commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee's drive -- the sixth government official's driver to test positive. 

Thousands of restaurants are temporarily closing

The restaurant industry is hurting badly now, with people too terrified to eat out. Many restaurants, cafes and even fast food outlets are temporarily closed. Cafe de Coral will now limit its services to only takeaway. 

Some restaurants say they will open in a week, others don't say. It's devastating to see everyone struggling so much because of the government not handling this fifth wave fast enough and wasting time getting the elderly vaccinated.

One acquaintance got his booster yesterday and thought he was smart to get it in this thigh, as this was recommended for children to prevent any issues with their hearts. But today he reported his leg hurt so much he couldn't walk properly! 

So pro-tip -- don't get your jab in the thigh. Just get it in the arm. One person suggested moving your arm around afterwards to quickly distribute the vaccine... don't know if it's true, but every suggestion is worth a shot. haha!

Covid Cases Continue to Rise

Some of the isolation units will be in these housing blocks

Today over 17,000 positive cases were reported, and 66 deaths.

According to Bloomberg, Hong Kong is now the second worst city in the world to be in now (the worst is Pakistan), in terms of how the place is dealing with Covid-19, its healthcare services and facilities, vaccines and so forth.

Hong Kong has plunged in the resilience score

How did the city drop so low? 

Ask Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

Her Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee continues to repeat the mantra that the fifth wave is "unprecedented" and that it hasn't peaked yet.

"We must use the coming two to three months to curb the pandemic with several measures," she said today.

As hospitals are now overstretched, any patient considered stable will be moved to isolation facilities or their homes as long as they had a negative test by the 14th day.

The only bright spot is that those who are fully vaccinated can end their isolation period if they test negative after the sixth or seventh day.

"We need to make sure resources are allocated to those who are most in need," Chan said.

You don't say!

Some temporary isolation facilities 

So many people on social media have suggested that only those who are in dire need of medical help should go to the hospital -- those who test positive but have no major symptoms should just isolate at home. But Hong Kong refuses this idea, as it continues to follow its goal of "dynamic zero Covid".

It's amusing to see government officials running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

Secretary for Housing and Transport Frank Chan Fan and his department are preparing some 3,000 flats in just completed housing estates to be temporary isolation units and described the logistics involved.

He said more than 16,000 light bulbs, 10,000 bed sheets, 3,000 electric appliances and other furniture items had to be procured, delivered and installed in all units on different levels within a short time.

They will have to keep working harder -- some 88,000 community isolation units for people with mild or no symptoms need to be ready in the next few months.

Inspection of the Lok Ma Chau Loop site

And at Lok Ma Chau Loop a temporary hospital is being built to house 816 beds. 

Hope they are building enough to house everyone! There is video footage of an unnamed hospital with patients placed in a hallway. It's devastating. Even more devastating is that so many are unvaccinated...

Finding Alternative Solutions

Slim pickings for meat after abattoirs test positive for Covid

After a Covid-19 outbreak at Hong Kong's two abattoirs, the supply of fresh meat has plummeted, affecting supply, and now the government is considering allowing mainland butchers to come in to help out.

The city's largest operator Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse, and its smaller rival in Tsuen Wan would shut down temporarily on Saturday until further notice for disinfection after 183 of 866 samples from the Sheung Shui abattoir tested positive.

Supplies of pork and beef are disrupted

This has resulted in a knock-on effect with retail shops selling beef and pork having to shut temporarily as well due to having no more meat to sell.

Why do we have to bring in mainland butchers? Why not use this opportunity to push people to eat a more vegetarian diet?

Isn't this what people had to do during war time? If you want to eat meat, then you have to pay more for it.

While we are not at war, we are in a pandemic situation where food supplies are not consistent, so we should learn to make do with what we have and eat other protein-rich foods like tofu and legumes. 

Why not eat more tofu products to get protein?

Novel idea?

Meanwhile it has been reported by the Wall Street Journal that Chinese President Xi Jinping summoned Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to Shenzhen to receive a direct order via Vice Premier Han Zheng that she has to get the fifth wave under control before Xi arrives for the 25th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China on July 1.

Some China watchers are expecting the city to implement even harsher lockdowns... but how is that even logistically possible? Today Hong Kong reported 22,000 positive cases (a mixture of preliminary positive and rapid antigen tests).

By the way now in Hong Kong rapid antigen tests count as a positive test.

How is Lam going to tackle this, when the number of cases are rising exponentially? The current idea of universal testing starting next month is ridiculous and half-baked. Meanwhile we are are trying to prevent ourselves from getting infected so we don't test positive and get hauled into quarantine.

Han warning Lam to get Covid-19 under control

Meanwhile Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee told Bloomberg today that the government had Covid-19 "under control"...

She's saying this while the numbers of cases are rising exponentially everyday.

The deadline is looming, Carrie. How will you emerge victorious in stamping out the virus? 

More importantly -- did she wear a mask during the meeting?

Thousands More Infected with Covid-19

More than 17,000 people reported infections today

Today Hong Kong logged 8,798 confirmed cases, but there are a whopping 17,279 cases that have been reported -- people either testing preliminary positive through government testing or through rapid antigen tests.

Both these numbers are records and sure to climb even higher in the coming days and weeks. 

In addition 50 people died, only six of whom had two doses of vaccines. One was a nine-year old boy who had a pre-existing genetic disease when he was a toddler, but was not vaccinated.

Hui strongly urges children get vaccinated

"If you are unvaccinated, it is very likely that your condition will deteriorate. With chronic illnesses, it is even more likely that complications will develop. That is why we are asking children to receive vaccines as soon as possible," said Dr David Hui Shu-cheong, a government adviser on Covid-19.

There are also heart-breaking stories of 11-month old babies ]who test positive for the virus but are forcibly separated from their parents and put into isolation. The Hospital Authority will not allow parents who have tested negative to be with the child under any circumstances. 

Another first today was the implementation of the regulation where everyone must scan the Leave Home Safe app that has the person's vaccination status uploaded to enter supermarkets, department stores, restaurants, and wet markets. 

People need to have at least one jab and scan the QR code of their vaccination record onto the Leave Home Safe app. That way when someone scans the QR code of a premises, the person's vaccination QR code pops up to show they have been vaccinated. 

Diners must upload vaccination status on app

However, according to some restaurant owners, many elderly people did not do this -- they either didn't know or didn't know how to it -- and so restaurant staff had to help them sort this out, or worse, turn them away. People can still get takeaway food if they don't want to scan the app.

Nevertheless, some restaurants have already seen a 40 percent drop in business today. There is also the issue of only having two per table. But another reason is no one wants to inadvertently become positive during universal testing which will begin in the coming weeks.

It probably won't be until after April 20 when the mass exercise is over when people will feel safer to go out to eat. It's a terrible situation, but so is some 17,000 possible infections reported in one day.

Today was also the start of further restrictions, where everyone exercising outside must wear a mask, even in country parks. This evening on my usual walk along the harbourfront most people complied -- only a handful of people had put their mask on their arm as they ran. 

I was shocked to find out today that one of my colleagues hasn't left his flat for two weeks. He is completely paranoid about stepping onto public transport. Another has also sequestered himself inside his flat too, and seems less witty in his messages. 

People must wear a mask exercising outdoors

It isn't really good to be holed up in your home mentally or physically. This fifth wave has made some people extremely scared, and very irrational. On the other hand my relatives still continue to refuse to get the vaccine despite the exponential numbers. I'm amazed they still haven't gotten infected yet. 

They have stashed up as much food as their flat can hold and then maybe when the cupboards and fridges (they have two) become bare then maybe they will get jabbed.

Their inability to rationalise the necessity of getting vaccinated to avoid serious health issues if infected continues to confound me. 

Paul Chan's Short-Term Sweeteners

Chan's budget aimed at fighting Covid, helping businesses

Following Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's announcement that universal testing will happen next month, those with means started booking the next flight out of Hong Kong. In the coming weeks there will be a massive exodus of people -- local, expat -- who have had enough of the government's half-hearted measures in dealing with this exponentially rising fifth wave and want out.

Why not, when the leader of Hong Kong has declared that as of next week children are on "summer break" and back to school in late April and will finish the rest of the school year in August, and a week or two later begin the new academic year.

Lam announced universal testing last night

The next generation have been hurt the most by this pandemic, now in its third year. And their long suffering parents having to work from home, now have to some how find things for their brood to do on their "summer break", but not meet any friends or take any classes.

Ah but wait -- Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has come up with some sweeteners for people today in his longest budget speech.

One of the first things he announced was all permanent residents 18 years and older, and new immigrants from the mainland will get HK$10,000 in electronic vouchers -- but in two stages. While that is great, again it will not benefit the small mom and pop shops, nor the wet markets. 

And it also sends a confusing message, as one economist says: "On the one hand, the government tells everyone to stay home for social distancing, but on the other, it asks you to go and spend. The policies are conflicting."

Permanent residents will get HK$10,000

There are many businesses that are on the verge of shutting down and giving out these vouchers will not save them.

Chan will make it easier for first-time home buyers to get a mortgage on 90 percent of the property's value, the maximum amount is HK$10 million, but who is left to buy them? Does anyone have the appetite, unless they know they are going to stay in the city for the long term?

To fight the pandemic, the financial secretary earmarked HK$22 billion to bolster its screening capacity and purchase rapid antigen tests, while another HK$10 billion will be invested in life science technology.

The city's 340,000 small and medium-sized enterprises will get access to a special loan scheme for another year from June, but is that enough to keep them afloat?

But meanwhile the police get to beef up their resources even more with HK$508 million for more gear and vehicles, while a whopping HK$5.1 billion will be spent on prisoners. Currently that amounts to HK$677,000, or maybe the government is expecting more people will be behind bars in the coming year?

More money spent on fighting Covid-19

As the government depends on land sales to fill its coffers, it is reasonable to see Chan propose a progressive rating system where those buying pricier flats will pay more in property rates. This, he says, could bring in HK$7.6 billion annually.

But what about education? Children have lost so much in the past two years. What is the government going to do for these students in terms of helping them get the resources and teaching they need? And in terms of healthcare, was there any talk of hiring more people to come to Hong Kong to help with caring for the sick?

Some economists felt the budget while it may help in the short term, does not have any long-term foresight in how the government will help Hong Kong's economy get out of the pandemic and restore its status as a financial hub.

"Some senior management of multinational corporations are leaving Hong Kong and they have alternatives, such as Singapore," said Simon Lee Siu-po, of Chinese University. "As far as the economic outlook in the medium term is concerned, it really depends on whether Hong Kong can restore free flow of people."

Not many are waiting around to find out.

Lam's Doomsday Message

Unmasked Lam announced the need for universal testing

Today is February 22, 2022, or 22022022.

The next time this date comes around will be in 200 years.

For us in Hong Kong it is a horrific date, the one where Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor told the city's residents this evening that everyone will undergo mass testing in March without a lockdown, that schools will go on "summer" break from early March for six weeks, social-distancing measures will continue till at least April 20, and flight bans from nine countries will be extended to that date as well.

Testing will be called according to HKID

And at the end of her hour long speech she said that we should all have hope.

What hope is there left?

It's a dark tunnel that seems to have no end.

Universal testing seems to entail testing 7.5 million people in three rounds of testing. People will be called out to be tested according to their HKID card number. After they are swabbed, the residents' specimens will be sent to Shenzhen to be tested. 

When a reporter asked about the legalities of this as it involves people's DNA, Lam replied that her administration should not be bound by the law when it comes to fighting Covid-19.

"In this wartime environment, this emergency, we cannot let existing laws stop us from doing something we should do. This is not the mentality for fighting a war," she said.

"I trust you have seen many war movies. In war there is no sense in talking about procedure."

Rapid antigen tests will be handed out to people

Those who test positive will be sent to isolation facilities, though at current projections, that could mean hundreds of thousands of people. Where are they all going to be housed?

So far there are about 20,000 hotel rooms, housing estates and gymnasiums (with zero privacy). There needs to be ten times that at least.

And she didn't even address the urgent matter of not enough healthcare staff to deal with all the serious cases. Doctors and nurses are not only burned out, but 873 of them so far have become infected themselves. 

Lam also reiterated her goal that 90 percent of the population would get at least one jab. How is she going to make that happen without vaccine mandates? When people go for universal testing, the authorities cannot make those who are not yet jabbed to do so. 

In fact her latest measures will make people refuse to cooperate even more. It's all stick and no carrot. 

Medical staff are burned out and getting infected

Upon hearing Lam's latest pronouncements, many people were left despondent, some, according to my friend YTSL posted pictures of the hard liquor they were drinking this evening. Others announced it was time to leave Hong Kong.

With school now in "summer break" during the coldest days of 2022, this will give families a reason to leave the city perhaps temporarily, but most probably permanently. Everyone's patience has pretty much worn out now. 

Restaurants have to maintain strict social-distancing by only serving breakfast and lunch, though most people are too scared to eat out, no one is in the mood to dine out anyway. Shopping malls are dead by 8pm. Lam and her administration have singlehandedly decimated the local economy because of their inability to prepare for the severity of this fifth wave, and tomorrow is the budget speech! How lovely!

If we are in a wartime, then Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po had better be prudent with taxpayer money. People need hope because it's not coming from Lam.

 

Covid Numbers Climb; Oscar-Nominated Ascension

Babies and toddlers seems more at risk of Covid-19 now

Hong Kong had another record day of cases -- 7,533 -- and sadly 16 deaths, one of which was an 11-month old baby girl. There is a big concern now about children becoming infected and how they are not getting vaccinated or are too young to be vaccinated in the case of this baby.

Meanwhile the government is still going ahead with the vaccine pass that starts on Thursday. In order to get a haircut or go to a religious service you must have at least one jab and have this vaccination certification uploaded on your LeaveHomeSafe app.

Uploaded vaccine passport is on left, none on right

If you are going to a shopping mall, supermarket, department store or wet market then you may need to show your vaccine pass if a security person stops you. So there may be some people who are not vaccinated and may take the risk of going into a supermarket without having to show anything. How is this helpful?

And perhaps even worse, no vaccination is needed at all to go into a hotel! Why is that when almost all hotel staff were pushed to get the jab? It boggles the mind.

Something completely unrelated to Covid -- I watched a documentary called Ascension that was nominated for Best Documentary at this year's Academy Awards.

I didn't know quite what to expect and was surprised at the end and how it all came together.

Oscar-nominated documentary Ascension

There is no one main character, no particular storyline, but it becomes more apparent the longer you watch it. It starts off with scenes of people looking for jobs and those trying to entice them with decent labour conditions, like free wifi, air conditioning in the dormitories, but the pay is very low at around 20 kuai (US$3.15) an hour. We are not sure what the jobs entail, but some say you get to sit while working, others say the job is in an office.

People get rounded up and taken in coaches to their new destiny.

Some make rugs for Ikea, components for spray bottles, bottles of water, others make microchips, Christmas trees, jeans, and shirts. 

Perhaps the most amusing scene is watching mostly women putting sex dolls together. They are made of silicone, with large pendulous breasts, and curvy bottoms. They have permanent surprised expressions on their faces. Each one is custom made -- "Her nipples need to be pink!" one worker says, another has her wig changed from blonde to brunette. Another flings the doll's legs apart to inspect her down there. Each one is photographed to make sure it is correctly done up.

Worker checks the sex doll's face with the order

An interesting tidbit is that director Jessica Kingdon said a subsequent talk that all the sex doll factories they went to were owned by women.

Then the film shifts to jobs that have been created in the last few years, such as cryptocurrency mining (mostly young guys playing video games and eating lots of junk food), men collecting rented bikes that are dumped in a pile, people talking into their smartphone streaming online to sell things, and what looks like a pyramid company, where everyone is aiming to make over 10 million yuan in three years.

There's also people who are training to be bodyguards, hitting each other until there are scratches and bruises on their chests, and to be professional-looking assistants where they should smile to show eight of their upper teeth, while others are training to be butlers, measuring the distance between glasses and plates. The instructor asks them if they have ever watched Downton Abbey and none of them have, leaving them with little understanding with what career they have chosen.

It's an interesting look at what Chinese wealthy people think what being rich should look like, and the butlers trying to fulfill that fantasy. They probably assume everyone in England lives like that, ringing a bell for the butler to appear. 

People waiting around to get work in factories

This is similar to the aspirations of China's middle class. They think they have made it when they buy luxury brands or they go to a water park and sharks swim around them in an outer pool. It's all quite overwhelming the sheer numbers of people all trying to enjoy themselves at the same time.

Kingdon herself has an interesting background. Her father is Jewish-American, her mother is Chinese. Her brother went to China for a few years, learned Mandarin and persuaded his sister to come look at the country.

Before Covid-19, Kingdon and her small crew filmed in 51 different locations around the country and she says in interviews she had the best Chinese food. Kingdon also managed to meet relatives on her mother's side, one of which is now a cousin who works in Silicon Valley in the US.

Nevertheless, the title of the film comes from her great grandfather who wrote poems. One of them is Ascension, where he writes that the higher one climbs, one is horrified by what they see down below.

Director Jessica Kingdon, her mother is Chinese

This encapsulates the film -- how people are struggling to get ahead in some way, whether it's factory work to escape the poverty in the countryside, or to become a butler in the hopes of getting away from a terrible work environment. And with all this production and capitalism leads to terrible environmental damage, climate change, and exploitation of labour.

But Ascension doesn't preach a particular message, nor is it judgemental -- it has a fly-on-the-wall approach to the film and lets the viewers see what is going on and decide for themselves what they see in the documentary.

Ascension

Directed by Jessica Kingdon

97 minutes

Covid Could Harm Your Penis and Other Horrible News

A study of Covid-infected hamsters yielded interesting results

There might be another way to entice people -- particularly men -- to get vaccinated.

If they don't and catch Covid-19, their sperm count could drop.

That's according to research from the University of Hong Kong, that says the coronavirus could damage testicles, lower sex drive, and affect fertility in men.

The findings were released on Sunday by ProfessorYuen Kwok-yung and his HKU team, based on a study on testicular and hormonal changes in hamsters infected with the virus.

Yuen led the study by HKU researchers

The fact that Yuen even has time to conduct this study while being busy inspecting the airflow and ventilation of buildings whenever there's an infection is quite impressive... and how did they even come up with this hypothesis?!

Nevertheless, it was found that infected hamsters suffered a sharp drop in sperm count and serum testosterone four to seven days after infection.

The rodents also developed chronic testicular atrophy, resulting in a decrease in the size and weight of the testicles. Again aren't those quite small to start with?!

Both Omicron and Delta variants caused similar effects.

At least this is a bit of light-hearted news after days of depressing news and more to come.

Today 6,067 infected cases were recorded, only 12 of which were imported. The Centre for Health Protection has now given up on releasing preliminary positive cases as they did not reflect the true number, but also because they are completely overwhelmed.

Hong Kong officials are throwing their weight behind battling "the enemy", as Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu says the city is in "full-on war mode" he wrote in his blog.

Lee says Hong Kong is in "full-on war mode"

"Now is the most critical time during the two years of anti-pandemic efforts. The SAR government is in a full-on war mode and will follow the important instruction of President Xi Jinping to stabilise the epidemic as an overriding priority, mobilising all forces and resources, taking all necessary steps to protect Hong Kong people's lives and health and ensure Hong Kong's social stability."

So it is under the guise of the pandemic that Hong Kong will follow instructions from Beijing because it is very evident that Hong Kong people cannot govern Hong Kong.

Meanwhile his colleague Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee warned in a radio program that social-distancing measures would be further tightened, but didn't go into details.

What does this mean? People can't even be in groups of two?

Chan says more restrictions to come

It seems the government is intent on making us the most miserable people on earth. We can't eat in a restaurant after 6pm, can't get haircuts or exercise in a gym, watch a movie, attend a concert, go swimming, go to a church/synagogue/mosque service, borrow a book from the library, and attend a wedding or funeral.

And Chan says it's going to get worse?

It's going to be a long, long spring.

Government Officials Looking Busy

Mainland expert team (in maroon) seeing things done in HK

For days Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee was no where to be found, publicly that is.

She finally emerged today, apparently busy showing around a mainland epidemiological expert delegation on the third of their five-day trip here that was documented in a press release.

Chan promised tracking every confirmed case

They visited the Contact Tracing Office which is under the Department of Health, and then also the Environmental Protection Department where officials explained its work on environmental transmission of the virus within buildings, while the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department talked about the requirements for indoor ventilation systems in government buildings, and guidelines for improving air quality indoors.

But perhaps most surprising in the press release was Chan's declaration: "The Government is in a race against time with the highly transmissible Omicron mutant strain. In order to contain the epidemic, we have to trace the close contacts of every confirmed case as soon as possible and conduct environmental investigation rapidly."

Uh... does she know there are currently 30,525 active cases?

Meanwhile her colleague Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong is upset that Hong Kong residents were crowdfunding to help pay for the fines that foreign domestic helpers were getting from the police for allegedly not social-distancing to two people in public spaces. Last Sunday it was reported 17 fines of HK$5,000 each were handed out.

Police swarming domestic helpers at Tamar

The crowd-funding page had received over HK$100,000, but Law said he would ask the Justice Department to look into whether legal action needed to be taken.

"You may have good intentions, but we can't rule out that you are maliciously obstructing our whole anti-epidemic effort. Because you are helping a big group of foreign domestic workers to congregate, to violate the gathering limit, [this] will affect the epidemic, and affect many families," he said. "We must not be soft on this."

Definitely. As his boss Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said, "No mercy".

As a result, the organiser of the crowd-funding page had to stop accepting donations.

"Upon advice, we have decided that we should not proceed to pay the fines of the group of domestic helpers who received fixed penalties on Sunday, 13 February 2022, and have closed the fund. All sums collected will be returned to the original donors through the website."

Today there were 6,063 cases recorded, and 15 deaths with the age range between 45 to 93 years old, and only about two were vaccinated.

C'mon people! Free protection right here!

Another statistic that might persuade people to finally get vaccinated: in this fifth wave there have been 46 deaths so far. Of those, 40 were not vaccinated. Of those who were jabbed, three who died had had two doses of Sinovac, two had one dose of Sinovac, and one had two doses of BioNTech.

Why doesn't the Centre for Health Protection emphasise this to prove the point that people need to get vaccinated?!

Finally a Bit of Progress

Patients waiting outside showed hospitals at overcapacity

Days after Covid-19 patients lay in gurneys in the rainy chilly weather, someone from above ordered them to be moved inside and by this evening they were as temperatures dropped to 9 degrees Celsius this weekend.

Why did it take so long and how come emergency provisions were not made? Are senior government officials blind to what is going on that it finally took today for Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to say something about it?

Lam announced postponement of CE election

It is outrageous that anyone in Hong Kong, old or young, Chinese or not to be treated in this way in this city's healthcare system. It has been ignored for so long regardless of the pandemic that there were shortages of doctors and nurses and now we have scenes of one medical professional attending to 20 patients outside.

The other group of people badly mistreated by the government are foreign domestic helpers. There are cases of some who quit because their employer was too overbearing and then caught Covid, or their employer fired them for being infected with the virus, and these helpers were left with no where to sleep except on the streets. 

When asked what help the Centre of Health Protection could give them, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan basically didn't have an answer except that they should self-isolate before they were contacted... where is the compassion?

This evening Lam said employers should persuade their helpers to stay at home even on their day off, and that this coming weekend the police "will not show mercy anymore".  

Foreign domestic helpers are targeted for fines

Meanwhile on the weekends, police officers target helpers who gather together and hand them fines of HK$5,000 for gathering in more than groups of two. 

Their monthly salary is under HK$5,000 -- how can they even afford to pay these fines?

One woman who is in touch with one or two of these helpers has set up a fundraising page and raised over HK$700,000 in donations to help these women pay these fines. They are unfairly targeted, when there are places in Central where numerous expats meet up drinking alcohol -- why not fine them too?

The inequities of this city were already bad when the pandemic started, but have become more cruel as Covid-19 wears us down day by day.

This evening Lam announced the election for the chief executive would be pushed back from March 27 to May 8 in order to focus on the health crisis at hand. No one was surprised, though a week ago Lam claimed because the election committee only involved just over 1,000 people that the race to pick the next leader would not be interrupted.

Luo held a video meeting with business leaders

But perhaps with Xi Jinping admonishing the local administration for what appears to be a lax effort in battling the virus, Lam has finally made the call to postpone the election.

Today there were 3,629 cases reported, but 7,600 preliminary, and Lam says it will take at least two months to get the fifth wave under control.

Also this afternoon business leaders, or shall we say billionaires had a video conference call with liaison director Luo Huining, who was seeing who could offer what. This was the ultimate exercise in displaying patriotism.

Tycoon Richard Li Tzar-kai, who heads the ViuTV local television channel and the Now TV entertainment platform, announced the 12 members of the popular group Mirror would become "anti-pandemic ambassadors". 

Mirror will be anti-pandemic ambassadors

While New World Development CEO Adrian Cheng Chi-kong said he would free up the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre for community testing purposes, and Peter Lee Ka-kit, co-chairman of the Henderson Land Development, said his group would offer up a 20-hectare site on Lam Kam Road in the New Territories for an "instant" hospital.

Others offered to ramp up the acquisition of rapid antigen tests for low-income people and frontline healthcare staff, and bring in more food and goods into Hong Kong. 

But will this be enough to effectively fight the virus?

Hong Kong Continues to be in Tatters

Many interpret Xi's message as a rebuke, others say it's support

There was a lot of chatter about General Party Secretary Xi Jinping's directive to the Hong Kong government to put the current fifth wave under control to prevent social instability. While many interpreted his message to be a rebuke, others tried to spin it as encouragement towards the local authorities.

Regardless it was another day of mounting cases -- 6,116 today, and another 6,300 preliminary. There were also 24 deaths in the past 24 hours.

What has Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor done today?

The iclub Ma Tau Wai Hotel in Tokwawan

She managed to procure 20,000 hotel rooms -- double the number she asked for to house close contacts of coronavirus patients, and infected people with mild symptoms.

The hotels are scattered all over town and it was recommended not to use those that are attached to shopping malls to avoid further transmission of the virus. The first batch of hotels are located in areas such as Tsuen Wan, Fortress Hill, and Tokwawan.

Meanwhile some 300 taxi drivers have been recruited to ferry patients who have tested positive to clinics for treatment. The drivers will get masks and gowns as well as goggles, but it might be hard to see the road clearly wearing those all day...

This evening my colleagues and I received an email from our company saying someone this afternoon tested positive for the virus, which meant the office would be deep-cleaned all weekend.

While those who were in the office these few days could get self-tested, the Centre for Health Protection did not deem them as "close contacts" and so testing was not mandatory. This just shows how different the policy is from two years ago, when anyone who was near the infected person had to go into quarantine camp for two weeks despite testing negative.

Luk Yu Tea House is temporarily closed

After a few appointments in Central this afternoon I went to visit a few shops and was disappointed to find they were shut. The pandemic had made it unfeasible for them to open now, including one that has just opened last week.

Many restaurants have either temporarily closed -- including the iconic Luk Yu Tea House -- or have drastically scaled back their days and hours of operation in a bid to survive. 

A hotel restaurant I visited earlier today said they were supposed to have 50 diners, but 10 cancelled because they were scared of dining out.

I suggested they spread the tables out further and the manager said they had put them much further apart than the government regulations. 

The Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong has begun promoting takeaway from its Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant, which was unheard of last year. Will people really want char siu using Iberico pork, or fried rice vermicelli with crab meat and egg? By the time they bring it home it's cold...

Rapid antigen tests are the must have item now

The hottest must-have item now besides N95 or KF94 masks? Rapid antigen tests. Pharmacy chain Watson's had practically sold out of all of them except one -- at HK$118 (US$15) a piece.  

The other day Lam had said the government had ordered millions of RATs, but where are they? They should have been handed out to people this week, but no, they still aren't here.

This is not how to battle the pandemic with determination and speed. 

Again, the residents have to protect themselves with whatever resources they can get their hands on.