Covid-19 Cases Climb past the 55K Mark

Times Square shopping mall is devoid of customers

Hong Kong has yet another record of 55,353 positive cases today -- reaching over 50,000, one day before the modelling anticipated it. And it doesn't include all those who used their own rapid antigen tests to discover they are positive... some estimate there could be hundreds of thousands of cases in the community now.

There were 160 deaths reported, of which 117 were in the past 24 hours, 43 were backlogged. Of the 117 deaths, 95 were unvaccinated with an age range of 58 to 100 years old.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor again reiterated there would be no full citywide lockdown, as there weren't enough isolation facilities to house all the positive cases, but had no further details. 

That led to another day of panic buying in the city, and food suppliers were exasperated in trying to explain that the food is coming, but everyone is freaking out and buying whatever they can get their hands on.

Meanwhile businessman Allan Zeman who started out in textiles and owns most of Lan Kwai Fong, and used to head Ocean Park and turn it around, wrote an open letter to Lam, saying Hong Kong residents need clarity on how the government is going to take control of the fifth wave, as rumours are scaring people and it is not good for their mental health.

"There are too many rumours floating around and such a feeling of uncertainty, we need very clear messaging giving people hope and direction for an end to this nightmare," he wrote. "People feel they are getting punished for being infected."

Zeman is saying what all of us are thinking throughout the letter.

In the end he also reminded Lam that many people have lost their jobs and businesses shut down due to the restrictive measures and that subsidies were needed to keep everyone alive.

Will she listen?

A colleague thinks the national security police may come knocking on Zeman's door...

So many restaurants, cafes, stores, banks, post offices, and even convenience stores like 7-Eleven are closed because they have had infections or they are worried for their staff and limit services even more.

Even the MTR is affected, having fewer trains in service than before, especially in the evenings. The Star Ferry in Wan Chai stops service at 9pm. Shopping malls are dead by 6pm.

Island Beverly mall in Causeway Bay

"There is absolutely no one here [in the mall], not even on weekends. Most shops are closed," said Chloe Cheung, who owns a small boutique in Island Beverly mall. She planned to shut down when the lease expired in June.

"The lockdown is not that necessary. It is a ghost town now."

Indeed. Anyone who is out and about near dinner time are rushing to get back home with dinner in takeaway bags.

It is painful to see Hong Kong deserted like this. The only other time no one is around and everything is shut is when there is a typhoon. But the fears of a lockdown and the sheer exponential rise in the number of cases has already made people uneasy and not want to go out.

How people and businesses will make it out alive -- and sane -- from this latest wave will be nothing short of a miracle. And we badly need one.

RTHK's Letter to Hong Kong Abruptly Axed

This RTHK opinion show was suddenly axed on Sunday

 

The dismemberment of Radio Television Hong Kong continues to gather pace with the axing of a short weekly program called "Letter to Hong Kong".

It gives airtime to politicians and public figures to talk about a specific issue they want to address and it's on average eight to 10 minutes long.

The letter is written and recorded in English, so the speaker's oral skills may not be as good as a radio host, but many do have interesting things they want to say, or make a rebuttal to an issue in the news, or promote a cause that is worthy of the public's attention.

Mo's letter supported those in jail and was yanked

There was a balance of guests, some pro-establishment, some pan-democrats, or well-known figures. The last person to read his "Letter to Hong Kong" this past Sunday was businessman Allan Zeman, chairperson of the Lan Kwai Fong Group, who talked about the pandemic.

However the new head of RTHK Patrick Li Pak-chuen has canceled episodes at the last minute, leaving the station's staff scrambling for replacement items. 

In April, the "Letter to Hong Kong" featuring Tuen Mun district councillor Michael Mo Kwan-tai was yanked, possibly because he sent Easter greetings to those in detention and thanked them for their spirit of sacrifice.

"We may lose a battle, but we must not lose our determination to resist," he said.

The episode was suspended three days before it was to air and was replaced with Eugene Chan, President of the pro-Beijing Association of Hong Kong Professionals and a former chairperson of RTHK's board of advisors.

Also Chris Yeung Kin-hing, chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association was told his appearance would be postponed in April. Looks like never.

Zeman read the last Letter to HK

"Letter to Hong Kong" will now be replaced by a show called "#Hashtag Hong Kong", where music will be played and NGOs will be invited to discuss livelihood issues. The first episode features Patrick Cheung Chi-hung, chairperson of the children's rights group Against Child Abuse, who called for mandatory reporting of child abuse.

Sounds pretty intense. But one presumes eventually there will be groups on the show talking about beach clean-ups, food waste, and recycling clothes...

 

A Sombre Look to 2021

New Year's Eve is cancelled in Lan Kwai Fong tonight

 

This year's New Year's Eve will be muted with social distancing measures preventing people from marking the end of 2020 in restaurants and bars because of the coronavirus pandemic. Already after lunch streets around Lan Kwai Fong were blocked off by police and barricades about to be put in place.

But if no more than two people can gather what is the point of going there when everything there is closed and the possibility of being fined for not social distancing?

Lai on his way to the Court of Final Appeal

2020 is also ending on a disappointing note with Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying back in jail after the Court of Final Appeal agreed to the Department of Justice's argument to hear an appeal on the question of bail in a national security law case.

However, that case won't be heard until February 1 to decide if Justice Alex Lee Wan-tang erred in granting bail to Lai on December 23. 

Until February 1, the media tycoon will be in jail... his reprieve was a very short seven days.

As for 2021, there will be more of the same. Talking to people in the last few days we all expect social distancing measures to continue well into January in the hopes the pandemic will be under control by Chinese New Year, but for sure the protests have been forced underground for now.

The wave of emigration from Hong Kong has already begun, with people starting new lives elsewhere, lost as to what to do and sad for their hometown. More will join their ranks in the coming months.

Economically it will continue to be tough in Hong Kong, though the fact that businesses with restaurant licenses can operate is much better off than those in New York, Los Angeles, London and Paris. Retail has been hit the hardest, with people either not in the mood or lacking the funds to shop unless it's for necessities.

Looks like a sombre year ahead, but with vaccines coming there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. 

Wishing everyone a better and healthier 2021.

Coronavirus Cases Continue to Surge

Carrie Lam with Sophia Chan announcing new restrictions

 

We can thank tai tais for the fourth wave of the coronavirus. There are over 180 cases linked to dance clubs, 21 place spread all over the city. Avid dancers don't just go to one location, and even the dancing companions will also move around the different clubs to dance with middle-aged women.

There are videos going around of these people dancing maskless and in very close proximity to each other which is shocking to see and one wonders why these people are not worried at all.

One dance cluster was at this Wan Chai club

Despite the surge in cases, the government has not ordered these dance clubs to close, and instead is forcing bars, pubs, night clubs, party rooms and saunas to close from Thursday for at least a week.

Meanwhile restaurants, including those in hotels, will be limited to only serving a maximum of 40 customers, as they will only be allowed to have 10 tables, with at most four diners per table. 

The bar industry was infuriated by the latest announcement, as the latest cases did not stem from bars and pubs, and yet it was being punished -- again.

"It's very unfair. We are in a very passive position, because no matter what we do... we have executed all the measures and also followed closely every single regulation, but we are still the one to blame," said Anthea Cheung, director of the Lan Kwai Fong Association.

Bars in Lan Kwai Fong will shut again

"We are getting ready for the promotion of Christmas. Maybe 50 percent of our outlets will close [down] because it's our high season where we get most of our revenue from."

Meanwhile gyms have escaped further restrictions this time around, though it could only be a matter of time before they are closed as well. 

In a bid to help make contact tracing easier, the government has developed the "Leave Home Safe" app, where people can "check-in" at over 10,000 establishments in the city by scanning a QR code when they go in, and then when they leave, they can register that they have left the premises. 

Not only does it track where people have been, but can also alert them if someone else tested positive was in the vicinity at the same time as the user.

People can track where they've been with an app

A reporter found some of the QR codes were easy to find, others were hidden in obscure areas of buildings. While the government says downloading the app and using it is voluntary, it kind of defeats the purpose if not everyone uses it...

However, if things get worse, the government may make using the app mandatory -- just like taking one's temperature before going in, scanning the code may be too.

In the meantime the government should really examine its restrictions and shut down dance clubs for now. 

As most of the patrons are tai tais, they have infected other posh locations, like the two clubhouses at the Happy Valley racetrack, Hong Kong Club, Ladies Recreation Club, and Hong Kong Cricket Club.

So much for staying away from the plebeians -- these tai tais have infected their members-only hangouts and will probably be socially shunned later.

Oh the horror!

Worries of Surge in Post-Halloween Cases

People were partying in various "masks" for Halloween...

On Halloween night there were lots of people out on the streets, particularly in Lan Kwai Fong, and Secretary for Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee was worried looking at the footage that the large groups of people may lead to a spike in coronavirus infections.

But it was the government that eased restrictions just in time for Halloween... we may find out if there really is a surge in positive cases in the next two weeks.

A positive case was in Mongkok Police station

However there are other local infections to worry about, including a  26-year-old man who works for Cable TV and stayed in a holiday hotel in Mui Wo on Lantau with friends, and a 42-year-old mainland woman who was allegedly a prostitute arrested in a vice operation and the origins of her infection are unknown.

She came into contact with at least 23 officers as she was arrested in a hotel in Mongkok, then transferred to Mongkok Police Station for three days before she was moved to Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre, then finally Ma Tau Kok Detention Centre.

It's interesting that anyone arrested these days is not tested for Covid-19 right away. So far four officers are in quarantine, and the police station was disinfected. While she was in detention, she shared a cell with six others; luckily they have all tested negative.

Another case stayed at this hotel in Mui Wo

Meanwhile the man shared a hotpot meal with 10 people at a friend's home, seven of them also worked at Cable TV. A woman who stayed with him in the holiday hotel in Silvermine Bay also tested positive along with a 15-year-old related to her.

While the number of daily local infections is less than five, it is apparently not low enough for the mainland to be confident enough to open the border with Hong Kong. 

A commentary in People's Daily on Saturday used Macau as an example, and said the borders were reopened after the casino hub had the virus under control.

"The top priority for Hong Kong is to effectively control the epidemic, strictly prevent cases from rebounding, and stamp out local infections," the commentary said.

It said the central government had supported Hong Kong by sending a team of medical staff to help with the city's mass testing program in September.

As I blogged earlier, China doesn't even count its positive cases according to everyone else's definition; it only counts positive cases as ones with symptoms and not the asymptomatic ones according to the WHO standard. 

Restaurants like Caprice are easier to book now

But that's fine if the mainland doesn't want to reopen the border with us.

Many Hongkongers are very happy to get reservations at Michelin-starred restaurants more easily and malls are much less crowded, along with public transportation.

That's the one upside of living in a pandemic...

 

Government Steps Up Testing

The five-star hotel was shut down with 300 staff in quarantine

 

Hong Kong recorded eight new coronavirus cases today, three of which were from The Royal Garden Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui East. Earlier a server in the Vietnamese restaurant Le Soleil tested positive, which prompted the Centre for Health Protection to give out test kits to all the hotel employees and three more were found, another waiter at the Sabatini Ristorante Italiano, one who works in the buffet, and a technician. 

They are all male, which the CHP deduced they all shared the same space in the male changing room and possibly lounge area.

How about drinks with a deep throat saliva test?

In the end 300 staff were sent into quarantine, and as a result the five-star hotel was shut down by management, not CHP.

All the guests' bookings were immediately cancelled, or moved to other hotels in the city, such as the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, including a wedding reception for tomorrow. Talk about an immediate upgrade.

Tonight the Hong Kong government decided to be more proactive and had a mobile testing centre stationed at Lan Kwai Fong this evening and hand out free test kits to any bar patron or staff who wanted to get tested for free.

The effort is in conjunction with Prenetics, the city's largest private laboratory and they planned to hand out 1,000 kits of specimen bottles for deep saliva tonight, another 1,000 in Tsim Sha Tsui tomorrow, and another 1,000 in Wan Chai on Sunday.

Prenetics staff hand out kits to bar goers tonight

By the way the government is subsidizing the test at HK$900 a pop.  

It'll be interesting to see how many are actually interested in having drinks with friends and a deep throat swab on the side, but it makes the tests more accessible and possible to find more positive cases...

HK Bars Reopen, Hotels Frantically Keep Up

 

Many people were happy to be back in a bar to have drinks

 

Tonight bars and karaoke lounges are open for the first time in over two months since the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic hit. There were reports business was brisk in Lan Kwai Fong, above it on Wyndham Street, and along Soho, near the Mid-Levels escalator.

For the most part people complied to social-distancing measures of two per table and businesses including restaurants will have to close at midnight, two hours later than before.

It's just the latest loosening of restrictions that the city is adjusting to, and there are hopes the catering industry will be able re-coup some of its losses, though one wonders if things will ever get back to pre-pandemic levels.

Some people, like my friend YTSL have gotten used to not going to bars and wasn't particularly keen on going back right away. As research has proven, if you do something for at least three weeks straight, it becomes a habit, and for some, there is no need to visit their drinking hole anymore.

Long line for afternoon tea at the Grand Hyatt

Meanwhile hotels may have been quiet for months because they have had hardly any visitors, but behind the scenes staff have been very busy. 

One public relations person who works in a hotel on Hong Kong island told me how these days it feels like they are waging a war everyday, as in having to be extremely agile and constantly adapting to the latest government regulations.

Another hotel person told me of having to constantly update the hotel signage, messages to guests in rooms, websites and social media of the latest changes in dining hours, or the number of people allowed, and so on. 

All the hotels have been suffering terribly since the pandemic hit in late January, and at one point the occupancy rate was at single digits, when pre-pandemic it was in the 80 to 90 percent range. This compares to hotels in say New York, that consider 65 percent occupancy a very good day. So you can see hotels in Hong Kong have been spoiled for a long time.

These days a decent occupancy rate in the city is in the 20 percent range, and more recently it can climb up to 35 percent on weekends with staycations.

As a result, hotel staff, particularly those in sales and marketing are under the gun to come up with interesting packages and promotions to lure local residents in to dine and stay.

Some have offers of unbeatable prices, while others have staycation packages that include dining credits, or even all three meals sorted during their stay, like The Peninsula. After all, it's a way for guests to sample more restaurant outlets in the hotel, and for the kitchen staff to keep occupied.

In particular the pastry departments in several top hotels have been frantically busy with afternoon tea takeaway sets. Why nibble on finger sandwiches and eat scones in the hotel when you can do it in the safety of your own home?  

Granted you have to go to the hotel and pick them up, but that hasn't deterred hundreds of people from doing that. A few weeks ago there was a picture on social media of a massive line of people at the Grand Hyatt waiting to collect their afternoon tea sets for takeaway. 

Some hotels even specifically designed a special multi-tiered cardboard box that can easily be carried by the handle. 

Assembling afternoon tea sets at Four Seasons

But again back to the pastry chefs. Typically they may make 30, 50, at most 100 afternoon tea sets a day. These days they are making up to 300 tea sets a day.

They commandeer a function room because they aren't being used anyway, and there they set up tables with afternoon tea sets being assembled like a factory. 

The hotels aren't making that much money off these sets -- the prices have to be competitive, but at the same time taste good and have good packaging otherwise people will be disappointed if things have fallen apart by the time they get home.

While staycations keep rooms occupied, guests are only staying one night, whereas previously visitors would stay three to four nights. So everyone from the reception desk is busy checking in and checking out people everyday, and the housekeeping staff are constantly cleaning rooms after a night's stay.

And then there are guests who get wild and trash the room, like what happened at The Peninsula last week. A video was posted on social media of a room that was celebrating someone's birthday, but it was a complete mess. Someone's going to get a big bill for that.

 <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Video doing the social media rounds from The Peninsula Hong Kong of how guests trashed the room.<br><br>Staycations are getting a bit out of hand. <a href="https://t.co/peYgMhGzbr">pic.twitter.com/peYgMhGzbr</a></p>&mdash; Aaron 🇦🇺🇮🇩🇻🇳🇹🇭🇭🇰 (@tripperhead) <a href="https://twitter.com/tripperhead/status/1304751607356166144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Now that swimming pools are open, hotels immediately got inquiries if their pool would be open too? Many changed their reservations as soon as they heard pools would open today. But how do you (politely) control the number of people who go in and out of the pool without upsetting guests as the government has mandated it should be at half capacity.

Yet another dilemma hotels have to deal with...