Simple Goodbyes During Covid

Lovely portrait of Robin at the funeral

Today I said goodbye to a friend who died a few weeks ago from cancer. Robin Piers Lynam was 63.

I didn't know him that well, but more on a professional basis, and he was such a gentleman in an English sort of way. He was so knowledgeable on so many different subjects, from food to wine, music both classical and jazz, and was a musician too who played the guitar.

He was a Renaissance man who refused to get a mobile phone until he was diagnosed with cancer over two years ago and had to keep in touch with the medical clinics for his treatments.

Robin passed away at age 63 of cancer

The last time I saw him was about half a year ago at a lunch in Somm at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental, and I was so genuinely happy to see him as I knew he was battling cancer at the time and glad to see he looked well and had a decent appetite.

We said our goodbyes at the MTR station after, and I expressed hope to see him again soon.

That did not happen until today.

Due to Covid restrictions, 40 people were invited to come to the crematorium at Cape Collinson above Chai Wan, but only about 15 people showed up. We had a socially-distanced shuttle ride from Central that took less than 20 minutes.

When we arrived, his partner tearfully hugged everyone, and although she barely knew me she held me tightly.

Before entering the bare bones funeral hall, we scanned our Leave Home Safe app, where there were no flowers, just a plain room with seats on both sides, and on the left a rolling conveyor belt with a curtain to the crematorium.

Someone placed a portrait of Robin on the table and then the mini service began with his partner thanking us for coming, how they had 25 years together and was so grateful for every moment they were with each other.

She then invited each of us to say our goodbyes, which most people did briefly, including myself. His partner then said a few more words and played a lovely song in which she cried loudly throughout.

Cape Collinson is a no-frills crematorium

Periodically someone behind the curtain dressed in full protective equipment including goggles peered through to see if we were done yet.

When the folksy song ended, she pressed a green button and the coffin moved forward behind the curtain. Robin's partner will take his ashes back to the UK, as he and his older brother have predeceased his mother.

And that was it. We checked out of our Leave Home Safe apps and it was 16 minutes.

That's what a no-frills funeral is like these days.

Robin would probably be surprised to see how sparse the room looked, but maybe would think it was practical not to have flowers and having people fuss over him.

It was just so sad to see hardly any ceremony and not being allowed to have anything too elaborate. With so many deaths these days from Covid, the funeral parlours and crematoriums are very busy, though we did not see the next party come in.

I really enjoyed working with Robin -- he was so helpful whenever I had to publish say a supplement on wine or a wine magazine. He would ask me which wineries to include and then in a few weeks came out with practically flawless stories featuring the vineyards I had asked him to write about.

He was really a lifesaver.

Lam finally wearing a mask to address the public

Will miss his acerbic wit, knowledge on so many subjects and overall just a gentle soul to be around.

Hope you are resting peacefully on the other side.

On the Covid-19 front, today Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor made her first public appearance since February 22 to now give daily updates on the pandemic situation in Hong Kong. And for the first time she appeared speaking with a mask on!

So much for wanting to show people how she really feels, when as the leader of Hong Kong she should set an example and wear a mask indoors, as stipulated by pandemic regulations.

Today the city logged 58,750 cases (25,991 from PCR tests, 32,766 from RAT tests). The latter are considered confirmed after all the relevant information is inputted into the website and the government issues the applicant an isolation order. Many were backlogged cases from since February 26 to now.

The number of deaths was 195, of which 145 were not vaccinated, with ages ranging from 41 to 105. The youngest person was a domestic helper who had fainted and was found by her employer. At the hospital the helper was found to be infected after a RAT test, but it is not clear if the helper died of Covid as she was found to have a brain hemorrhage. Another female aged 45 had cancer. 

The alarming message

Infectious disease expert Dr Gabriel Leung has said on Twitter that according to the University of Hong Kong modelling, the fifth wave should have peaked on March 4 with over 1.8 million people infected.

When asked to comment on this, Dr Albert Au Ka-wing of the Centre for Health Protection said it was still a bit too early to know if the fifth wave had peaked yet, and would probably find out in another week or so as case numbers are still high.

In the meantime around dinner time everyone in Hong Kong received a fright on their phones with alarms going off because the government decided to send a very important text message letting everyone know that Queen Elizabeth Hospital is now only for Covid patients.

It was already announced yesterday.

Did they really need to do that? Everyone immediately complained on Twitter.

For some reason my phone went off an hour later... since then people have all changed our settings to not receive such alarms anymore...

Hong Kong Now World's Worst in Covid Deaths

Patients are back outside hospitals, no space and warmer temps

Hong Kong was one of the best places in keeping Covid-19 at bay for two years, and now it is the worst.

Today the city logged another record 56,827 positive cases, and a shocking 144 deaths in the past 24 hours, ranging in age from 42 to 102 years old. While 56 of them lived in elderly care homes, 124 of them were not vaccinated.

The rising line is the number of HK deaths

Up until the beginning of February this year, Hong Kong had hardly any deaths and now it is at 17.3 deaths per 1 million people. 

When comparing Hong Kong to New York City via @kjoules:

Most cases in a day per 1 million people

NY 6,621 (January 3, 2022)

HK 7,676 (Today)

Most deaths in a day per 1 million people

NY 67.9 (Before vaccines April 7, 2020)

NY 15.0 (After vaccines January 11, 2022)

HK 25.1 (Today)

Meanwhile the government and advisers are still deciding about implementing universal testing. Today Dr Yuen Kwok-yuen admitted that the window for inoculating the elderly has passed and that conducting universal testing will only find too many cases and not enough places to isolate them all.

Other experts questioning the need to do testing in March also include Ben Cowling, Gabriel Leung, Leung Chi-chiu, and Ho Pak-leung. 

There is still no consensus or final announcement on how universal testing, which is supposed to start on March 26 will be done. The government says there will be 500 testing centres so that people will not have to wait too long, and these testing centres will be located in schools (that are not used because students have been forced into an early "summer vacation".

Yuen admits HK should have vaccinated elderly

Currently there are only 19 testing areas in the city, and another 43 mobile ones operated by contractors. Are there even enough staff to conduct tests at all 500 sites?

Apparently when people go for the three tests -- in family groups -- they will receive KN95 masks and rapid testing kits to screen between tests. All our nostrils will be extra sensitive after this is all over with. 

It was also reported that some 1,000 prisoners have caught Covid, including democracy activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho Chun-yan. They tested positive after using the rapid antigen tests but currently show no symptoms. 

As a result of the positive cases, lawyers will not be able to visit their clients in the next two weeks, while loved ones and families of the detained cannot see them for another one and a half months.

Isolation units with bars on the windows...

And then there are the isolation units being built... apparently it is four to a room -- how is that even social distancing? Squat toilets (and now some Western ones we have been told) -- and mainland Chinese electricity sockets. No one alerted the mainland contractors that Hong Kong uses the British sockets.

So if you do end up in one of these isolation trailers with three other strangers, at least bring a multi-plug adapter with you...

Universal Testing Dates Keep Changing, Fuelling Mistrust

For a second day in a row supermarket shelves swept empty

Today there were 32,597 cases, and 172 deaths (110 in the past 24 hours, 55 were backlogged). Of the 110 deaths, 86 were unvaccinated. The age range was 47 to 99 years of age.

After lunch, I ventured out from home to meet a colleague for coffee in Wan Chai. She wanted to try a relatively new coffee shop, but we discovered it was closed temporarily and went next door to another one. The staff there explained they only had a few baked items that were hand written, though all drinks were available.

We scanned the Leave Home Safe app, and then he scanned our vaccination QR code. 

Slim pickings for whoever arrived late

This is the new normal.

This morning there was word that the universal testing would start on March 17, and that people would be tested according to family grouping, but no further details on the actual logistics. 

When my colleague and I parted ways, I wandered to the nearby wet market and there were long lines of people waiting to pay for fresh vegetables, not so much fruits or meat, but seemed that vegetables were the hot items today. I didn't have the patience to wait in line to pay.

Pharmacies were full of people hunting for items -- rubbing alcohol, Panadol, masks. Strangely rapid antigen tests were available on the street and I immediately wondered if they were fake.

Then towards my home I went into Marks & Spencer and most of the shelves were already picked over, the bakery section completely cleared of any bread, eggs, vegetables, and the individual portions of food were almost all gone along with apples. No one wanted the lasagne or ravioli. 

Pharmacies were also swarmed by customers

Across the street at a grocery chain U Select, the vegetables again were completely gone save for boxed salads, and some fruits left. It was shocking to be late to see all the food picked over and I was left with having to deal with what was remaining. It was depressing and horrifying.

Perhaps residents took to heart Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's call that fighting the fifth wave was a war, and people were preparing to hunker down for war.

Now this evening pro-Beijing news outlet HK01 is saying the date of universal testing will start March 26 to April 3.

It seems the government is throwing out ideas via pro-Beijing media and then seeing how the public reactions.

However, a group of researchers led by Dr Gabriel Leung, one of the government's advisors on the pandemic said earlier today that March was too early to conduct universal testing, that it should be done in late April after the fifth wave peaks.

"If compulsory testing were to be implemented pursuant to the 'dynamic zero-Covid policy', it should be deployed towards mid- to late-April when case numbers are anticipated to already be at very low levels in order to maximise its utility in achieving true elimination, or 'zero-Covid'," the research team stated.

"Doing so earlier, especially when case numbers will still be too high to properly and appropriately isolate and care for, paying particular attention to population mental and emotional well-being in Hong Kong's unique context, would not be recommended."

Maybe the government will reconsider the dates again? It's all confusing and frustrating to see this all played out in real time instead of the government and experts hashing it out and then presenting a unified front.

Tomorrow there will surely be people again waiting for supermarkets to open and buy up whatever they think they need because the mixed messages is fuelling even greater distrust -- on all political sides -- which surely should not be good for Lam...

More Restrictions Suggested to Covid-19 Weary Residents

Endless numbers of people waiting to get tested for Covid-19

Hong Kong's number of Covid-19 cases dipped just slightly at 986, with all except one being local infections. The number is not necessarily a true indication of the situation as the city's testing capacity is limited.

However, this evening word came down that Beijing will be sending medical experts to Shenzhen to discuss the best way to battle the fifth wave, which could entail sending thousands of medical personnel and millions of test kits, while also ensuring food supplies, particularly vegetables will come to Hong Kong. 

Beijing will offer medical help to Hong Kong

It makes the city sound like a developing country, completely helpless in its food security and medical capabilities. It's actually quite embarrassing.

There continue to be shocking scenes in Central, Wan Chai, and Tung Chung, the endless numbers of people waiting hours to be tested.

A temporary testing lab at Ma On Shan sports centre will be resurrected to ramp up testing from 100,000 a day to three times that.

Meanwhile experts from the University of Hong Kong are predicting that if the latest social-distancing measures continue, the city could see up to 28,000 cases by next month and 1,000 Covid-19-related deaths.

Professor Gabriel Leung, dean of HKU's faculty of medicine, is even suggesting the city be put under lockdown for two to three months to squash the virus. 

Leung is suggesting a city-wide lockdown

So when this was reported, residents here got into a frenzy worried about the possibility of that happening. 

When Leung was asked to clarify what he meant by lockdown he said: "What lockdown means is that we should implement more stringent measures... It could be achieved through administrative or legislative means... It could also be something voluntary. The most important thing is to curb transmission."

We get that, but how is that possible in a city of 7.5 million people?

He also suggested that residents be given rapid antigen tests and test themselves every other day before leaving their homes, and boost the vaccination rate not only in the elderly but children as well.

In addition Leung said having just one jab of the vaccine wasn't enough.

"Even with two jabs, it's very difficult to stop the spread of infection of Omicron. What it does do, however, is it brings down your bad outcomes and deaths," he said. "It will have a dramatic difference in terms of the number of deaths if you get jabbed early enough before you get infected."

Prolonged isolation will have mental health impact

People are wondering if they need to prepare suitcases for when they need to go into quarantine, or at least some kind of isolation.

If and when Hongkongers get out of the fifth wave, we will all need psychological help us understand what we've all gone through in the past three years.

Despite Warnings Crowds Flock to Flower Markets

This afternoon Mongkok people were busy buying flowers

It's ironic that the Hong Kong government cancelled the Lunar New Year fairs, open-air markets selling flowers, snacks and festive decorations when instead people flocked to the flower market in Mongkok today.

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said yesterday it was a tough decision to make to cancel the fairs.

Chan says cancelling fairs was a difficult decision

"From a health perspective, we want to control the epidemic as soon as possible so we cannot hold large gatherings," she said.

However, judging from the hordes of people in Mongkok's flower area known as fa hui, it perhaps would have been better to hold the fair anyway.

"How are they supposed to do crowd control in the middle of the road? Why can't we just set up the fairs with social-distancing measures and vaccine bubble requirements?" asked a 62-year-old mandarin plant vendor surnamed Leung.

"It's a big headache. We were all looking forward to selling our produce at the fairs, but now we have to make last-minute changes on how to distribute tens of thousands of mandarin plants."

What a logistical nightmare.

In the meantime the good news is that there were only five new cases of Covid-19 recorded, yesterday there were nine. 

Children can get vaccinated as early as next week

Children as young as five can get the Sinovac vaccine from next week, while those wanting the Pfizer BioNTech one will have to wait until after Chinese New Year.

One health expert is calling for a review of coronavirus measures, saying perhaps the use of partition boards are not helpful in terms of air flow and that tables should be more spaced apart.

Small eateries cannot place tables 1.5 metres apart and instead use partitions as a bid to be able to have more customers, but Dr Gabriel Leung of Hong Kong University says the partitions could block ventilation. He also adds when dine-in services resume, perhaps restaurants could open until 9pm... 

Meanwhile my relatives still refuse to get vaccinated even though that will mean not being able to dine in restaurants if they don't have at least one jab when the social-distancing measures are lifted.

"Then we just won't go to restaurants," she said. 

Maybe partitions aren't a good thing anymore?

While they often eat at home for dinner, they frequent eateries like cha chaan tengs and sometimes have dim sum for lunch, but in the next few weeks they won't be able to do it at all. There will also be a push later for people to have two jabs in order to enter restaurants. Then what?

"We'll see when that happens," she replied.

Completely impractical and irrational... but then again so is this government that is making out Omicron to be a deathly virus and refuses to live with the reality that Covid-19 is here to stay...

Herd Immunity Still not Enough, says Top Epidemiologist

The government needs to focus on vaccinating elderly people

It is utterly depressing to read one of Hong Kong's top epidemiologists on the pandemic says Hong Kong's Covid-19 situation will not become "normal" until at least mid-2022 despite vaccinations picking up the pace in the last few weeks.

Gabriel Leung, dean of the University of Hong Kong's faculty of medicine, said even though there are projections of inoculating 70 percent of the population by October, more needed to be done to focus on helping the elderly get the jab.

Currently only 5 percent of the elderly who needed institutionalized care had been vaccinated so far.

Leung says new normal not until mid-2022

"We have to remember that half of the 200 Covid-19-related deaths in Hong Kong happened in elderly homes," Leung said, and that it was important to vaccinate vulnerable groups particularly from the Delta variant.

He explained that a carrier of the Delta variant could infect four to five people. An average person infected with the Alpha variant, in comparison, could infect just 2.5 people, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

For Leung, the test to decide when the city could return to normal was not to achieve high vaccination rates among the working population, but among vulnerable groups.

He accused the health authorities of pursuing the wrong vaccination strategy in care homes, and Leung believed the initial government guidelines on vaccination for elderly people with high blood pressure was "overcautious" and confusing.

Leung says jab strategy for elderly was confusing

As a result this caused many elderly people to avoid taking the jab out of concern for the potential side effects, when in fact, Leung said, they should be the first ones to be vaccinated because their underlying conditions would make a Covid-19 infection more deadly.

Currently 2 million people in Hong Kong are fully vaccinated, and 2.8 million with at least one dose. Only 3.9 million more to go...

Nevertheless the resumption of quarantine-free travel with the mainland remains out of reach.

Leung believed the mainland authorities were thinking "10 steps ahead" given the fast spread of new variants. He said the mainland government would only consider relaxing border controls after getting its own vulnerable groups fully vaccinated.

"Hong Kong is the southern gate of the country, and China's overriding strategy is still elimination of the virus," Leung said. "Before it can vaccinate enough of its population, it will not open its borders to us or anyone."

Depressing, right?

Hongkongers Leery on Vaccine Jab

Which of these three vaccines would you want to take?

 

Should we be surprised? More than half of Hongkongers do not want to be vaccinated, up 17 percentage points over the past two months. Only 45.3 percent of people believe vaccines are safe, down from 59.6 percent two months ago.

The citywide poll was conducted by the University of Hong Kong, which also revealed fewer than three in 10 residents were prepared to take the vaccine produced by Chinese company Sinovac Biotech amid fears of its low efficacy at about 50 percent.

Leung says public needs more info on vaccines

Professor Gabriel Leung, dean of HKU's faculty of medicine said the government, the scientific community and the World Health Organization needed to provide "solid scientific evidence" to ease residents' concerns.

"Build trust by being honest, open and transparent and trust science," Leung said on Thursday. "We all need to do more explaining to the public."

The two surveys while conducted over the same period were done with different sampling methods and respondents, but Leung noted the data illustrated similar results.

He noted the proportion of residents in China polled on the same question last year was 88.6 percent, 79.8 percent in South Africa, and 67.9 percent in Singapore. But Leung said global confidence in the inoculations was broadly declining as misinformation and confusion over the shots increased.

The survey showed 55.9 percent of people accepted the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, followed by AstraZeneca shots at 35.3 percent. Sinovac at first had 38.2 percent acceptance, but it has now dropped to 29.5 percent after the release of data on its low efficacy.

We're all waiting for Lam to get inoculated first

The acceptance of the vaccines might also have to do with how the Hong Kong government rolled out the campaign. At first Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said people would not have a choice of the vaccine and then after an uproar backtracked and said they could have a preference.

And then Sinovac not only did not produce enough vaccines for Hong Kong delivery by the end of January as promised, it also failed to publish comprehensive final phase trial data.

Like we said before, many would feel more confident watching Lam get a jab live and then scrutinizing her everyday for the following two weeks at least to see if she had any adverse side effects. How else is she going to persuade every resident to get the vaccine and reach her goal of zero infections?

 

More Restrictive Measures to Tame Covid-19

Secretary for Health Chan announcing more measures today

 

The Hong Kong government is still trying to tame the coronavirus pandemic, and fearing the fourth wave coming, it has mandated some new regulations this afternoon.

From midnight tonight, people considered in "high risk" jobs will be forced to undergo Covid-19 tests. These probably include those in the hospitality industry, bus and taxi drivers, and healthcare workers. If they refuse to take the test they could face six months in prison and fines up to HK$25,000.

Mandatory testing for "high risk" groups

Pretty hefty, but the government believes there are still silent carriers out there.

Shockingly there are cases of people visiting friends who are in quarantine. Hello? You can't do that! Why is this happening now after how many months? 

When someone is in quarantine that means they shouldn't see anyone for 14 days! If the quarantined person needs something, then drop it off at the door, no face-to face visits please.

And then there are the parties in hotel rooms. The government is now clamping down to a maximum of four people per hotel room, and all guests must be registered with the hotel. Again why is this happening? 

People seem to think they can be more carefree in hotel rooms. The other reason is hotels are trying to drum up business by creating packages for birthday parties, and some of these events have gotten out of hand, leaving outrageous destruction behind, and now cases of infections. This has to stop in the name of social-distancing.

Restaurants four to a table, 50 percent capacity

Starting Monday restaurants have to go back to tables of four, and bars and pubs with tables of two, open until midnight, whereas it is now it is 2am. Also the capacity of these places, including swimming pools will be cut from 75 percent to 50 percent.

Professor Gabriel Leung, dean of University of Hong Kong's medical school and advisor to the government on the pandemic, said the recent situation is worrying.

"In the recent one to two weeks, we have seen much more imported infections compared to the past. This trend was also similarly seen before the outbreak of the third wave," he said.

He added that analysis of the virus strain in recent patients showed it was linked to earlier imported cases from Nepal, suggesting loopholes in measures regarding arrivals.

Dr Leung says latest virus strain is from Nepal

Leung said the local reproductive number of the coronavirus, a figure showing the amount of people a patient could infect is between one and 1.25 people in the past two weeks.

"It means the risk of an outbreak is very high," he said. "Hopefully those hidden transmissions could be traced and they would not join and cause large outbreaks."

And here I thought most Hongkongers were pretty good in observing social distancing, but I guess not! It's disappointing to find people are not erring on the side of caution -- we need to beat this virus, the sooner the better.

The Leadership's Ineptness is Ridiculed

Does Lam really want to fight the virus? Or it's just a slogan?

Today more shocking news, with Hong Kong reporting a whopping 118 new coronavirus cases, 111 of which were locally transmitted, and there was one more death. There are now 2,249 cases and 15 deaths.

Civil servants, originally ordered to work from home for a week, will continue to do so until August 2, while health officials again warned people not to go out unnecessarily. This is being reflected in the volume of passengers taking the MTR which has dropped to levels in March, and health experts are hoping the number of infections will continue to drop in the next two weeks.

Dr Choi's answer has gone viral on social media

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Medical Association held a press conference and one reporter asked about Covid-19 testing.

"Why can Macau conduct 11,000 tests and Singapore 20,000 tests daily and Hong Kong can't? Is it a difference in testing methods?" she asks.

Hong Kong Medical Association past president Dr Gabriel Choi Kin replied, "The leader is different."

Everyone laughed. Next to Choi was Dr Alvin Chan who laughed too but then realized he was holding his microphone close to his mouth and quickly said, "I just coughed."

We all saw that!

It was a moment of brevity we needed after consecutive days of shock and worry.

But it was also very telling of what the Hong Kong Medical Association thinks of Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her administration.

Dr Chuang going through her briefing notes

For over six months she has been at least one step behind in implementing measures, and in the beginning she was very lucky that Hong Kong residents took the initiative and started wearing masks right away.

But then as the pandemic wore on, people started getting tired of dealing with the coronavirus and were agitating for some kind of normalcy. They got it, but at a price -- we are now undergoing severe measures where no restaurant can open except for takeaway, whereas before people could dine -- if they dared to.

There is also a long list of people exempted from quarantine who might have spread the virus to the community; this has been brought up by reporters at press conferences, but no health official was willing to address this question until today when Dr Gabriel Leung suggested that samples taken from recent Covid-19 patients bear little resemblance to earlier strains of the virus that his Hong Kong earlier this year.

"The current third wave seemed to have had multiple, new introductions that are unlinked to the previous local clusters," Leung said, meaning that the current wave of infections was brought it by those who did not need to be quarantined.

Restaurants already offer takeaway options

One has to wonder if infectious disease experts who are advising the government are frustrated by the administration's unwillingness to act faster, or only taking half-hearted measures to really stop the virus from spreading further. Today's regulation of making it mandatory for people to wear masks indoors was head-scratching, as practically everyone already wears masks when they go into establishments.

But how about this motivation -- the faster everyone stays at home most of the time, wears masks whenever they go out, practice social distancing and personal hygiene, then it gives Lam less of an opportunity to postpone or cancel the upcoming Legislative Council elections in September.

We all want to vote, right? So please do your part and stay home (as much as possible)!

Coalition of Politics, Not Pragmatism

Tung Chee-hwa (left) and Leung Chun-ying form a coalition for Hong Kong

Two of Hong Kong's former chief executives, Tung Chee-hwa and Leung Chun-ying are keeping busy these days. They have formed a coalition banding together top business, political and academic elites to somehow revive the city's economy.

Called Hong Kong Coalition (how inspiring), the group has 1,500 members, including tycoons like Lee Shau-kee, Li Ka-shing, academics such as Chinese University President Rocky Tuan Sung-chi, former secretary for justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung, and top epidemiologist Gabriel Leung.

Lee Shau-kee is part of the group to revive the economy

Not only will this alliance try to help contain the coronavirus epidemic, but also revive Hong Kong's economy and end the political stalemate between the government and protesters that had "shattered" the city since the anti-extradition protests began last June.

"The opposition has resorted to all means to seek mutual destruction, such as attacking the police with petrol bombs, and making remote bombs," Tung said.

"They damaged mutual interests of Hong Kong, and pushed the city to the edge of a cliff. If they want to destroy the future of Hong Kong, we won't let them succeed."

Some 1,500 members have signed up to the coalition

Tung doesn't seem to remember that it was Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who, wanting to gain brownie points with Beijing, proposed the extradition bill without thinking through the legal consequences, and more importantly, how Hong Kong people would feel about it.

And she did not care that 1 million people came out to peacefully protest against it; her lack of empathy led to escalated violence. "It was you who taught me that peaceful marches are useless", was spray painted on the walls of the Legislative Council when it was stormed by protesters on July 1.

Tung also accused opposition lawmakers of abusing their power by filibustering in the legislature. Can we remind him that because they are the opposition, it is their right to do that?

Will the pro-Beijing group help young protesters get jobs?

Meanwhile Leung Chun-ying claims the coalition will help young people find jobs, internships and volunteer positions so they won't "stay idle".

But which students will they choose? The ones towing the government line, or those who participated in the protests? When asked about this, Leung did not reply.

Just how this group of heavyweights -- many of them past their prime -- are going to somehow magically revive Hong Kong's economy back to where it was before is wishful thinking.

Or is this a make-work project to give the appearance that Hong Kong elites are trying to look like they are doing something for the economy?

Carrie Lam caused the protests last year that led to violence

Hong Kong needs creative leadership and new ideas, not stodgy people who join this group to be politically correct... guess that doesn't include disgraced CE Donald Tsang Yam-kuen...

Coronavirus Dilemma

Along Victoria Road here is a view looking towards Lamma Island

After dealing with a stressful week, I have to say a dose of sunshine does wonders to the body and spirit.

Bauhinia flowers in bloom

Yesterday afternoon I needed to buy some walnuts and almonds for my oatmeal, and instead of taking the bus or MTR to Sheung Wan, I decided to walk to the mom-and-pop shop via the waterfront. Even though it was foggy, it was nice to be outside during the day. We all practiced social distancing, everyone, except runners, wearing masks.

After I came back home, instead of feeling tired carrying back 4lbs of nuts, I felt energized and tackled some work I didn't get to during the week.

This morning I decided to go out for a walk again after breakfast, this time along Victoria Road, where I hadn't gone for a while. There weren't too many people here, and I soaked up the blue skies and very warm temperatures at 22 to 26 degrees.

Thank goodness I wore a hat and the mask came in handy as joggers ran by. It's a few weeks before Qing Ming, but lots of people were already at the various cemeteries along Victoria Road to pay their respects to elders.

My great aunt and uncle are in one of these columbariums and I managed to find them -- there are so many floors and niches that you can only find them through the number on their niche. Thank goodness I had taken a picture last year which showed their code number.

Many people have visited cemeteries ahead of Qing Ming

Qing Ming is a nice time for families to gather in remembrance of loved ones, but this year it's a more anxious time with the coronavirus.

There are concerns of another wave coming, and these fears have already resulted in people staying away from bars and restaurants. Dr Gabriel Leung, an epidemiologist and dean of medicine at the University of Hong Kong, and Chinese University respiratory medicine expert Professor David Hui Shu-cheong have separately called on the government to limit the number of patrons in restaurants and bars.

Leung has added the government should subsidize part of the salaries of bar and restaurant employees so they won't be laid off, but it doesn't seem keen on the idea, and would rather these establishments figure out themselves the best way to stay open but have fewer patrons.

Prof David Hui urges bars and restaurants have fewer patrons

In the meantime, after news on Friday of at least five positive cases of the coronavirus were of people drinking in bars in Lan Kwai Fong, the area was completely dead that evening, and last night too.

It's a difficult situation for restaurant and bar owners, chefs, and staff -- do you stay open? If you do, how will you operate to try to make the environment as safe as possible for everyone?

Even conducting temperature checks and filling out health declaration forms aren't going to ensure the coronavirus will not come into the dining premises -- someone could be asymptomatic but carry the virus and spread it to others.

Already a number of places in Central have had to shut down for two weeks because customers or staff have found out they were positive.

Lan Kwai Fong in Central was eerily quiet on Friday night

Is it worth the risk?

But at the same time, how do you operate a business if your food and/or drinks are not possible for takeaway?

We live in challenging times, but Hongkongers will find a way to survive.

Infected Cases Continue to Surge

More people returning to Hong Kong means more possible infected cases

There was a record 48 new cases of people infected by the coronavirus reported today, to a total of 256 confirmed cases, making a lot of people in Hong Kong jump in alarm.

And they should.

Some of the cases were people congregating around Lan Kwai Fong -- I thought that area was not the "in place" anymore -- and another case in the gym chain that I belong to, and several were travelers who returned from overseas like Europe, the United States and Canada.

Dr Chuang reported there were 48 new cases in Hong Kong

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, of the Centre for Health Protection's communicable disease branch, warns there could be a lot more cases in the coming days.

"As some of the cases had travel history a few days before... with the incoming number of residents returning to Hong Kong, we may see a high number of cases for at least two weeks or more," she said. 

This is why Hongkongers must not let their guard down, says Professor Gabriel Leung, dean of the University of Hong Kong's medical faculty and a member of Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's expert panel on the viral outbreak.

"It is absolutely critical especially as we have this influx of Hong Kong returnees starting from a few days ago and continuing for the next few days. This is the highest risk and we must be extra vigilant."

Dr Leung says Hong Kong is at war with the virus

Leung was concerned the flood of people coming back to the city could spark a second wave of infections, and worse, spread through the community, like what happened in South Korea in the first few weeks of the outbreak there.

"It is absolutely critical especially as we have this influx of Hong Kong returnees starting from a few days ago and continuing for the next few days. This is the highest risk and we must be extra vigilant."

Meanwhile top microbiologist Ho Pak-leung also at HKU, also expects there will be an additional 200 cases in the next two to three weeks. He suggested it would be best to immediately isolate travelers in quarantine, as even sharing bathrooms could spread the virus.

"When one patient passes the virus to two people in the community to form an unknown number of hidden transmission chains, then it's very likely that we will have 400 to 600 cases in the next two weeks," Ho said. If that happened, then "Hong Kong is at war".

Dr Ho predicts there could be an additional 200 cases

Other reported cases today include a man who went to the same gym I go to but different location, and a bank employee who attended a wedding celebration where cocktails were served and she mingled with others.

The fears of cases in Lan Kwai Fong that were reported yesterday had scared off a lot of diners tonight and this weekend, just as there was a campaign called #unitedwedine that kicked off with special, cheaper menus in the hopes of enticing diners back to restaurants.

The next few weeks will be critical and hopefully enough people have gotten the message to stay home not just for their safety, but also the safety of others.