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.

China-style Lockdown in Hong Kong

Chan announced the lockdown measures this evening

China's severe lockdown practices have come to Hong Kong in a bid to keep its zero-Covid strategy. Will we see people in hazmat suits bolting down people's homes a la Wuhan next?

Tonight, some 2,700 residents in Yat Kwai House, a housing block in Kwai Chung Estate will be stuck in home quarantine for the next five days to prevent the possible spread of Omicron. There were 20 positive cases found in this residential area.

The housing block will be locked down for 5 days

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee made the announcement this evening at at 6pm press conference -- when there's a late press conference on a Friday evening it's not going to be good news.

"We understand with this operation, people might feel there is some inconvenience such as not being able to go to work," Chan said. 

"We really appeal to employers if they have employees caught in this operation that, I hope, they will treat this in a more open and understanding manner so they won't deduct people's salary and things like that.

"The most important aim is really to identify or detect cases within the building, and secondly we want to stop the transmission chain from going further, therefore this is for the common good."

While Chan explained it was not necessary to evacuate residents because the outbreak was due to environmental contamination, not building structural issues, the main reason is because Penny's Bay quarantine camp is full.

The last time the government ordered a lockdown lasting more than 24 hours was last January, when residents in 70 blocks in Jordan could not go out for 48 hours.

People must be tested each of the five days

Residents of Yat Kwai House will have to be tested everyday for five days, and breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be provided for them. Anyone who fails to comply will be subjected to a HK$5,000 fine, and further violations could lead to a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a HK$25,000 fine.

Earlier it was reported a Pakistani woman who stayed in a quarantine hotel for 21 day became positive a few days after she came out, and already infected others. One of them was her unvaccinated husband, who went to Yat Kwai House to pick up recycling items from waste bins and infected a cleaner there. The cleaner had spread the virus across 13 floors affecting 12 households, as well as building staff.

The cleaner had had two doses of Sinovac.

Meanwhile, animal activists are trying to save as many hamsters as they can, intercepting people surrendering their rodent pets, explaining to them they legally do not have to do that. Some video footage has shown people giving their pets to these activists, who promise to look after their pets without exchanging any contact information.

Some activists protect hamsters as resistance

Some of these activists were interviewed by the media today. And while they asked to be anonymous and turned their backs to the camera while being interviewed, they also requested their voices to be altered too.

This is the state of Hong Kong now, as resisting giving up hamsters is seen as an act of dissent against the government. Even hamsters are seen as symbols of resistance...

Tonight two more pet shops have hamsters testing positive for Covid-19, I Love Rabbit in Causeway Bay and Tai Po. People who visited these shops must get tested, while staff members will have to undergo quarantine. Will another culling take place?

Omicron Infections Worrying

Sorry little fella, you need to go... some 2,000 hamsters culled

Hamster-geddon has been the talk of the town today, as we watched news coverage of people giving up their rodent pets to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department to test them for Covid-19, and regardless if they are negative or positive, they are "humanely handled", but we all know what that means...

One father interviewed outside the AFCD said it was not fair, having to get rid of the animal when it was a living thing, and having to explain to his children that the hamster had to be destroyed because of the pandemic. But at the same time he said for the safety of the family the hamster had to go.

A mother said her children had been talking about getting a small pet for a while and then they finally got the hamster on the weekend, but now she was taking it to be culled.

AFCD asked people to surrender their hamsters

But others reported in other news articles have refused to hand over the animals, saying they would rather die than surrender their hamsters. Some saw this as an act of resistance against the government, and others even organised a system to take in hamsters as fosters; it reminded some of when strangers would taken in protesters for their safety back in 2019.

It has even gotten to the point where death threats have been sent to infectious disease experts like Dr David Hui Shu-cheong, and Dr Yuen Kwok-yung, but he brushed off the ominous messages, as he'd received them before...

In any event, seeing headlines like "Killing Hamsters Drives Hong Kong to New Low in Meeting China's Zero-Covid Dream", and "Hong Kong hamster massacre: Residents resist 'zero-Covid' city's pet project" give a horrific impression of the city, especially when no other animal-to-human transmission has been found around the world for the past two years.

While experts are still trying to find out if it was animal-to-human transmission or the other way around, Yuen believes the hamsters that came from the Netherlands, were most probably infected while in the warehouse in Tai Po, which is why he still thinks the cull was necessary.

Can you get infected with a mask on? Possibly

Today there is a report that one could possibly be infected with the Omicron virus just by passing by an infected person -- and everyone is wearing masks.

This is the plausible explanation of how a 26-year-old kindergarten teacher tested positive after passing by two infected people while walking in an MTR tunnel at a Mei Foo exit.

CCTV footage and her Octopus card transaction history showed she went through a tunnel exit at almost the same time -- just nine seconds apart -- as the two infected people last Friday. All three wore masks, and the teacher did not have contact with the pair.

Hui says this shows that the Omicron variant is four to eight times more transmissible than the Delta variant.

"If the index [patient] was near the kindergarten teacher, the wind direction could carry droplets [containing virus] to the teacher," he said. "Although a surgical mask could protect you from large droplets, it could still reach your eyes or leak in when you rub your eyes and nose."

He added that short-range airborne transmission could also occur if they stayed at a close distance, through gaps at the sides of the masks. He suggested residents wear glasses, plain spectacles, or face shields on top of face masks for extra protection.

Hui says Omicron droplets can get into the eyes

Oh no. Here we go again with people going over the top with a face shield on top of masks and those goggles usually worn in laboratories.

We are so exhausted by the whole pandemic and now we are told to be even more paranoid. 

"When is this going to end?" people keep asking openly, and there's no definitive answer.

Now that Omicron can possibly be caught so easily, restaurants are definitely going to see a drop in dine-in business, and who wants to even eat with a friend anymore?

It's all too much to bear. The impending Year of the Tiger is not looking good...

Michelin Shines Stars in HK

Some of the chefs who received or retained one Michelin star

Just as Hong Kong is going through tough social-distancing measures that include not allowing restaurants to open beyond 6pm, the Michelin Guide Hong Kong and Macau 2022 was announced this afternoon.

9 new restaurants gained one star today

There was a lot of anticipation of who would get the coveted star because there were several restaurants that opened this year, but sadly not all of them were recognised.

However, it is worth noting that nine new restaurants in the red guide received one star, and two were awarded two stars; no new three-star restaurants were named, though one dropped out.

I heard from one chef that three stars are only given when inspectors from outside the region have visited the restaurant to ensure it does deserve the top recognition, and since Hong Kong has had such severe travel and quarantine requirements that it has been nearly impossible for overseas inspectors to come here and also Macau.

Two restaurants moved up to two stars

Maybe that's why more restaurants were given one star, such as Singaporean-influenced Whey, South American inspired Mono, the popular Indian restaurant Chaat in Rosewood Hong Kong, and Ningbo restaurant Yong Fu. Interesting to note that Seventh Son was finally recognised when it has always produced top quality Cantonese cuisine and classic dishes that are rarely found in other restaurants.

Nevertheless it was fun to talk to chefs who had just received their accolades and they sounded so excited on the phone. For many of them it is a dream come true to win a star, and even more so when it is their own restaurant.

In a video broadcast during the ceremony, chef Manav Tuli of Chaat had tears in his eyes, so thrilled and so thankful to his team for all their hard work. He recalled that when they started after dinner service they still had to mop the floors. 

Restaurants here didn't change, one dropped

Octavium and Yan Toh Heen were both elevated in the two-star category. Bjoern Alexander of Octavium was so shocked that he said, "What the f***!" as soon as he was told the news in another video. He immediately hugged his co-chef Roland Schueller who looked happy but unfazed by all the fuss.

When Amber won a Green star for sustainability, chef Richard Ekkebus was caught completely off guard so it was a very nice surprise for him and his team to win the award. He said it was their fault for not communicating clearly to Michelin what their sustainability efforts were last year so they made it a priority to tell them exactly what they were doing. 

So it's not just about what's on the plate, but also how restaurants and chefs get their messages across.

But what happened to the restaurants we thought should have been in there? Estro for starters, a refined contemporary Neapolitan restaurant, but perhaps it opened too late in October (or maybe the inspectors couldn't get a seat), and same could be said for Rex Wine & Grill where guests can only get reservations if they know the chef or manager. What about Margo which opened in July? Perhaps chef Mario Paecke is just finding his feet now and will get a nod next year? We are also hoping the same for Batard.

Nevertheless in general everyone who was included in the guide was grateful to still be in there. Many cited the tough two to three years Hong Kong has had, and being able to survive and keep their stars is a massive achievement in itself which is true. 

Ekkebus in blue mask so excited with Green star

And now they are in yet another tough situation, trying to extend opening hours until 6pm and offer takeaway, it's long hours for the staff, who usually get a break in the afternoon, but now must work straight through. The bright spot is having the evenings off, but those are hours they could have made more money...

Everyone hopes the measures will be lifted by February 4, but now with hamster-geddon, with some 2,000 of the rodents being culled, and two new clusters that are emerging, it may be a while yet before restaurants can get back to regularly serving customers again... 

Did Hamsters Infect a Woman with Covid-19?

Hamsters can easily spread viruses, says Yuen

I was going to write about the absurdity of Chinese claims that a piece of mail from Toronto that arrived in Beijing had Covid-19 causing at least two people to be infected, but now that insanity has been topped by Hong Kong health officials announcing some 2,000 hamsters will be culled, claiming some of them tested preliminary positive and could spread the virus in the city.

But first the mail.

The Beijing Centre for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday said traces of the Omicron variant was found on a letter mailed from Toronto and and suggested it could have been the source of the infection for the recipient.

Health Canada says virus on mail extremely low

Was there any genome sequencing done to verify if it is similar to Canadian strains of Omicron?

Nevertheless upon receiving media enquiries, Health Canada said while mail could be contaminated, "the risk of Covid-19 infection when handling paper mail or cardboard packages, including international mail, is extremely low.

"In general, coronavirus including variants do not spread from products or packaging shipped over a period of days or weeks," the health agency said.

Despite debunking Chinese concerns, Beijing has ordered the country's residents to stop ordering things from high-risk countries (basically anywhere in the world), and if they do receive mail, they must be double vaccinated and open the package outside the home wearing gloves.

Is this an inadvertent way to slow down or stop the posting of goods into China, such as illicit goods during the Olympics? In any event it is not a case heard elsewhere around the world, and sounds like a desperate attempt at trying to deflect attention away from the country's issues in battling the virus?

Meanwhile in Hong Kong things are becoming just as absurd.

China orders people to open their mail outside

This afternoon at a press conference held by the Centre for Health Protection, health officials announced that some 2,000 hamsters must be culled as some tested positive for Covid-19, and 11 of them were linked to two infected people who worked in a pet shop in Causeway Bay.

They believe this is the first animal-to-human transmission of the virus. All 34 licensed pet shops that sell hamsters must suspend operations, and the 150 customers who visited Little Boss shop must go into quarantine (and surrender the little furry creatures). 

The cull applies to all hamsters that were bought since December 22, when a shipment of the animals arrived from the Netherlands. They were transferred to a warehouse in Tai Po and a second shipment arrived on January 7.

"We have assessed the risks of these batches are relatively high and therefore made the decision based on public health needs," said Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Dr Leung Siu-fai. "We urge all pet owners to observe strict hygiene when handling their pets and cages, Do not kiss or abandon them on the streets."

When doing the genomic sequencing, Dr Yuen Kwok-yung of the University of Hong Kong said they had trouble mapping out the mutations from the sample taken from the shop assistant. 

A shop assistant was infected... by hamsters?

Wasn't she wearing a mask? How could a hamster transmit the virus to her?

"Some mutations found in that worker's [sample] could not be identified in a global genomic data bank," he said. "Experts are concerned whether there are any problems with those mutations... that's why we need to be extra cautious."

While some of the hamsters have tested preliminary positive -- and by the way, how are they tested? -- Yuen said it would take time for hamsters to show symptoms after infection, and keeping 2,000 alive could pose health risks to people looking after them.

"Hamsters are often used to do experiments because they are very sensitive to viruses and are easily infected. They usually release a great amount of virus in the first 10 days of being infected," he explained, calling the decision to cull the animals "decisive and wise".

The health authorities said the animals would be tested before being put down.

But those assurances sparked serious concern among animal welfare groups, including the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, saying the AFCD should review its approach before taking "drastic action".

Some 2,000 hamsters will be culled

This evening people in hazmat suits arrived at the aforementioned pet shop with people looking on. 

How do parents explain to their children that their recently acquired pet hamster needs to be surrendered and destroyed?

Can parents sue the government for causing the emotional distress of their children?

The culling of these animals reminds me of the "Four Pests Campaign" during the Great Leap Forward from 1958 to 1962, when rats, flies, mosquitoes and sparrows were to be eliminated. 

Sparrows were thought to consume four pounds of grain per bird, and so the Chinese set out to stop these animals from robbing their food. They banged pots and pans to make it so noisy for the sparrows that they couldn't rest in their nests and would drop dead from the sky. Their eggs were smashed, chicks killed.

What happened? The sparrows were nearly killed into extinction, and resulted in a surge in bed bugs...