Yes, You can be Reinfected With Covid-19

We may be wearing masks for a long time with the possibility of reinfection

Hong Kong recorded nine new coronavirus cases today, the first time in single digits since July 3.

While this was good news, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection cautioned it was too early to tell if restrictions on social distancing should be lifted, such as allowing customers to eat dinner in restaurants.

Chuang says it's too early to lift social-distancing restrictions

She hinted there were already 10 preliminary positive cases for tomorrow.

Nevertheless, there was one curious case -- the world's first -- that shows even if someone has recovered from Covid-19, they can be reinfected again.

Case #564 is a 33-year-old IT worker who was infected with the coronavirus in April but only had mild symptoms and then recovered.

In early August he flew to Spain for a trip and when the man returned to Hong Kong he had no symptoms but tested positive for the virus again.

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong wanted to find out if he was a "persistent carrier" from his previous infection. But it turns out from gene sequencing that the second strain was markedly different from the first. The second strain matched those found in Europe during July and August.

"Many believe that recovered Covid-19 patients have immunity against re-infection because most developed a serum neutralizing antibody response. However, there is evidence that some patients have waning antibody level after a few months," the researchers said in their study that was accepted by the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal.

A HK man was reinfected with Covid-19 while in Spain

"Our findings suggest that the SARS-CoV-2 may persist in the global human population as is the case for other common cold-associated human coronaviruses, even if the patients have acquired immunity via natural infection," they said.

The researchers suggested recovered patients should continue wearing masks and should also consider getting vaccinated.

This new development puts a damper on hope that once this was all over we'd all be fine. Nope. The possibility of re-infection is real and possible.

Get used to wearing masks, folks. This virus is in it for the long haul.

I just got an update that Thailand will be open to visitors in October, but they would still have to quarantine for two weeks before being let loose in the Kingdom of Smiles... how many visitors are actually going to go?

Hong Kong's Social-Distancing Measures to Continue

Social-distancing will continue for another week with case numbers still high

Hong Kong recorded 44 new coronavirus cases today, 31 of which were locally transmitted, 20 of them related to other cases.

Before the regular briefing by the Centre for Health Protection and the Hospital Authority, there were erroneous news reports that the dine-in ban would be relaxed so that people could eat in restaurants until 9pm or 10pm starting from Wednesday.

Only two people can dine per table these days until 6pm

However, that information was soon quashed when the government announced social-distancing measures would continue for another week until August 25, which include only two people can eat per table with restaurants having 50 percent capacity, and they can only dine from 5am to 6pm. Meanwhile masks must be worn outside, including while exercising.

So that bright hope to have dinner in a restaurant was extinguished and besides it was too short a notice for eateries to even prepare to open within two days.

With regards to the existing clusters, there are now 65 cases at the Kwai Tsing container terminals, which health officials are racing to contain. But the virus has exposed the plight of the workers there, who seem to work long shifts. They share a common area for meals, showers and even beds for sleeping.

The Kwai Tsing container terminal has seen 65 cases so far

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the CHP described it as the staff there living like a family, eating together, using the same showers and beds.

Why did the supervisors or even bosses of these container terminals not know these workers could not practice proper social distancing in this kind of an environment and that they needed more space? The workers themselves were possibly too worried about their jobs to complain, or they are so used to this that they didn't think it was a problem.

The CHP has apparently inspected the area, though it was not clear if it was properly disinfected.

Another interesting case is about a 33-year-old man who had contracted the virus in March in Hong Kong, got better by April, but then went to Spain earlier this month and came back testing positive for the virus.

They are testing him to see if the strain is the same as the one in Hong Kong or different. Either way it will be interesting to see how this case develops. But more importantly, why was he traveling?! Did he really need to go to Spain?!

Dr Chuang says container workers live together "like family"

Some people are traveling because they feel entitled or that they don't want to waste their precious holiday time in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile the rest of us are not even interested in going through all the trouble of traveling let alone the increased chance of being infected by the virus and are staying put.

It's just crazy to think there are people out there who don't think the virus will affect them, but in this case this man is infected again. Worth all that effort?

Hongkongers Fleeing Home

A lot of students doing a "we-fie" as they fly back to Hong Kong

After the Hong Kong government announced mandatory home quarantine for all travelers starting on March 19, people, many of them students, are scrambling to come back before the deadline.

First of all because of the scarcity of flights, prices have gone through the roof. A one-way ticket from London to Hong Kong now costs HK$51,817 (US$6,672) -- and that's just economy.

Check out the price of a one-way ticket back to Hong Kong!

Second, sitting on a plane for several hours raises people's fears of catching the coronavirus. One student was photographed today at Hong Kong International Airport wearing a hazmat suit, goggles and a mask.

He was probably right to do that.

Hong Kong now has 165 cases as of today, including an 18-year-old who was studying in Switzerland, a 21-year-old male university student who studied in London, a 27-year-old who studied elsewhere in Britain and a 24-year-old who worked in Denmark.

Other cases include a 69-year-old man who had traveled to Britain, Paris and Spain; and Cathay Pacific flight attendant who had been to Madrid, and a 30-year-old woman who had visited Paris and London.

A student didn't take any chances and suited up for the flight

Yesterday it was found at least 20 passengers who arrived at Hong Kong airport had a fever and were immediately sent to hospital. In addition there were about a dozen people who wrote on their health declaration form that they had symptoms (turns out mostly respiratory symptoms) and they too were hospitalized.

As a result Hong Kong's health care system is getting close to its limit in dealing with all these cases.

Unfortunately it has to be spelled out to everyone regardless of when they came back to Hong Kong that they should really self-isolate for two weeks out of courtesy and safety for everyone else. But there are some people who don't think this applies to them and go about their regular routine and may possibly be infecting others.

Hong Kong airport is much busier than in the last few weeks

Hong Kong's number of confirmed cases are going to increase in the next few days and weeks ahead. While we are doing well compared to other cities and countries, it would be less stressful for the rest of us who haven't traveled in the past two months if those who have (even before March 19) were more considerate towards the wider community during this time and do the right thing.

Jazz that Riffs off Ravel

(left to right) Marco Mezquida, Martin Melendez and Aleix Tobias

Last night was all about classical music, and tonight it was jazz riffing off of the music of Maurice Ravel.

As part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, I attended a concert by the Marco Mezquida Trio entitled Ravel's Dreams, held at the Drama Theatre in the Hong Kong for Performing Arts in Wan Chai.

Last year when I watched a jazz performance at the nearby Arts Centre, the place was barely filled, but this time it was almost full, with ushers encouraging people to sit closer to the stage.

Mezquida is a very talented Spanish pianist -- he is technically as brilliant as someone like Lang Lang and takes his musicality to another level with improvisation on the spot depending on the venue, the audience and how he feels.



Only 31 years old, he is very comfortable experimenting with all aspects of the piano -- even reaching over and playing with the strings inside the instrument. His fellow musicians are very accomplished as well.

Cellist Martin Melendez who was born in Moscow of Cuban parents and lives in Barcelona, playing jazz, Cuban, funk and flamenco. Melendez was soaking in the music, mostly eyes closed and moving to the music as he played, plucked and even strummed his cello.

Aleix Tobias on drums is very deft on percussion and has a range from adding beats to creating new textures with the music and complementing the two other players very well.

At first the audience was timid and didn't know when to clap -- many were Chinese -- but after a while they got the hang of it and enthusiastically clapped after each piece. 

Towards the end, Mezquida performed the Adagio assai from Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major all on his own and we were all mesmerized watching his fingers literally flying all over the keyboard, doing very fast chords and melody all on his own -- the cellist and percussionist took a break, and it wasn't until the very end did they join him.

The last piece they played was their riff of Ravel's Bolero -- so full of energy and the piano and percussion taking turns keeping the signature beat of the piece. The cellist held his instrument like a giant guitar and was strumming it!



By now the audience was so excited they clapped enthusiastically and got an encore. We don't know what it was, but Tobias held a tambourine, Melendez hit/tapped different parts of the cello and Mezquida strummed or plucked the piano strings -- it was completely unconventional music, and it was fun.

The audience clapped loudly again, but alas, the trio only came out to wave goodbye and that their CDs were available outside the venue!

Marco Mezquida Trio - Ravel's Dreams (arranged by Mezquida)
String Quartet in F major
Pavane pour une infante defunte
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Adagio assai from Piano Concerto in G major
Bolero

Freckles Challenge Chinese Beauty

Model Li Jingwen with a natural freckled face showing off Zara's makeup

The Chinese can be a sensitive lot, especially when it comes to their perception of beauty.

The latest fashion label to be on the hot seat following Dolce and Gabbana is Spanish fast-fashion brand Zara. It released a post on its Weibo account, showing model Li Jingwen wearing a new lipstick and lip glaze, though her freckles were very visible which sparked immediate controversy.

Some Chinese netizens took it to mean Zara was being racist towards Chinese people, saying the brand was "uglifying China" as they don't see freckles as a sign of beauty.

"Does it mean that us Asian women all have dull eyes and have faces full covered by freckles?" asked one netizen.

"Sorry that we Asian women don't have freckles -- or only a small proportion of us have," said another. "You spent such an effort finding a model with freckles, just like searching for a needle in the sea. How hard you've been working on this!"

A third netizen remarked, "Selling products in China had better respect Chinese people's aesthetic taste. I don't understand why Zara showed this face with a lot of freckles?"

Zara clarified the photos didn't make Li look ugly

Others felt the photos were realistic and one news platform called The Paper said: "It's common for international fashion brands to use freckled models, and some freckles are even welcomed by the public from foreign countries."

The fact that this needs to be spelled out in this day and age is a sad commentary on some Chinese people's tunnel vision definition of beauty.

Nevertheless, some appraised the photos as authentic and felt the public should be more open to different aesthetics and tolerant of imperfect facial features instead of just accepting edited pictures.

Zara had to clarify that the new makeup line was not solely targeting the Chinese market, and that the appointment of Li the model was determined by the headquarters in Spain, showing her in a natural state without any final touch-ups.

"Spanish people have different beauty standards and they did not intend to make this model look ugly," a Zara spokeswoman said. "They usually don't modify the photos of models. That's what the model looks like."

Does this mean the Chinese are going to hate on Li for her freckles? Or will they begin boycotting Zara?

Maybe they have to learn to accept that beauty is not one with a completely made-up face that looks impossibly perfect -- natural beauty is real beauty, and that includes freckles.

Port Visit: Barcelona's La Boqueria

La Boqueria is more of a tourist spot for visitors to have a taste of local food

One last stop on our short one-day visit to Barcelona was to La Boqueria, or the market in La Rambla, a main strip where tourists walk up and down to check out mostly souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants.

There's lots of fresh fruits and vegetables...

Historically, the first mention of La Boqueria dates back to 1217, and it was basically an open market selling meat. Centuries later the authorities decided to construct a separate market for the fishmongers and butchers.

It wasn't until 1826 was the market legally recognized, and construction began in 1840 to build an official structure for the market. While the building has been modified many times, the metal roof that exists today dates back to 1914.

I remember visiting La Boqueria over 20 years ago and was astonished by the amount of produce. The tradition continues today -- there's a lot to choose from, such as stalls selling fruit salads or fruit juices, or vegetables, jamon or cured ham sold by the gram, fresh seafood such as fish, oysters, prawns and even lobsters, or empanadas with different fillings inside.

... as well as cured meats including sausages and Iberico ham

It was difficult to choose what to try, and in the end I sampled a delicious octopus salad that wasn't tough at all, seasoned with olive oil, lemon and chopped parsley, though the fresh figs aren't quite in season so they weren't very ripe.

There were also lots of baked goods from fresh baguettes to cookies and pastries, as well as small bars where you can eat tapas, though with a big group like us it was hard to even get a seat; we just bought food and shared them among ourselves.

Afterwards we continued our way down La Rambla to the Columbus Monument. It's a 60 metre-tall column with explorer Christopher Columbus on top.

It was built in 1888 for the Universal Exposition of Barcelona the same year to mark his first voyage to the Americas. The monument also serves as a reminder that Columbus served Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand V in Barcelona after his first trip to the Americas.

Christopher Columbus atop a column

The statue features Columbus with his right hand supposedly pointing west to the New World, but in reality it's pointing south south-east, which means the city of Constantine in Algeria, and not his hometown of Genoa, Italy. Aside from being trivial, a simpler explanation is that Columbus is pointing to the sea to allude to his naval expeditions.

After taking pictures of Columbus we wandered to our shuttle bus to take us back to the cruise ship; this visit more than the others made me want to go back to Barcelona to explore more of the city. It was also cheaper than Italy -- another reason to make a return visit!

Port Visit: Barcelona's Park Guell

Gaudi's famous salamander made of mosaics at Municipal Garden

Another major landmark that you have to see in Barcelona is Park Guell located on Carmel Hill. A Spanish entrepreneur, Eusebi Guell, who made his money in the industrial revolution in Catalonia, commissioned Antoni Gaudi to design the park, which he did from 1900 to 1914.

Gaudi lived in this house (1906-26) which is now a museum

Parc Guell was officially opened in 1926 and in 1984 was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Originally the park was meant to be a commercial housing project but it was unsuccessful: the land was basically a rocky hill with few trees and vegetation, but the location was away from smoky factories, hence the air was relatively clean.

Guell had hoped to build 60 lots of luxury housing here that were fitted with modern technology, and he tried to initiate buyer interest by moving there himself into an existing country house called Larrard House in 1906.

Entrepreneur Guell lived here in Larrard House

However, in the end only two houses were built -- one as a show house, the other for sale, but no one was interested in buying them. So at Guell's suggestion, Gaudi bought one of the homes and moved in with his family and father in 1906 and lived there until 1926.

The house contains original works by Gaudi and is now a museum called Gaudi House Museum. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go inside.

However, we did wander around the colonnaded footpath under the roadway viaduct and heard some flamenco music being played and saw some musicians along with a flamenco dancer.

Benches are shaped like a sea serpent at Municipal Garden

We also sadly missed the Municipal Garden, made famous by Gaudi's colourful mosaic salamander called "el drac" or "dragon". This part of the park also requires paying an entrance fee. I visited this part of the park over 20 years ago and I was blown away by how creative Gaudi was with the long bench that is shaped like a sea serpent. 

Port Visit: Barcelona's Sagrada Familia

The back of the cathedral has some many decorations

Trying to take in Barcelona in less than 12 hours is impossible. Even trying to do the highlights well is a difficult too.

The front of the church (not my picture!)

We had our best intentions, but literally only had a taste of the Spanish city.

Since we were a group of eight traveling together, my uncle arranged for a van for us, but we actually got a full-on tour bus instead. How that happened is strange, but it was like our very own hop-on, hop-off bus.

Our first destination was Sagrada Familia, the famous cathedral designed by Antoni Gaudi that is still being built. Construction started in 1882, but by the time he died in 1926, only one-quarter of the building was completed.

Construction continues...

The project kept going through private donations, but then construction was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, and building started again in the 1950s. Now with computer technology, construction has speeded up, and the Roman Catholic cathedral is expected to be completed in 2026, the centenary of Gaudi's death.

The original inspiration for the Basilica Sagrada Familia came from Josep Maria Bocabella, founder of the Spiritual Association of Devotees of St Joseph. He visited the Vatican in 1872 and wanted to build a church.

During the Civil War, Gaudi's workshop was destroyed by Catalan anarchists and so the designs now are based on reconstructions of plans that were burned in the fire as well as on modern adaptations.

Admission into the cathedral (15-22 euros for basic tickets, and can go up as much as 40 euros) is what funds construction, which probably explains why there are so many people there and tickets sell out quickly.

The ceiling of the cathedral that I couldn't see unfortunately!

We didn't get a chance to go in, so we could only admire it from the outside. It covers one giant block and there's so much to see from every angle. I tried sketching part of the facade and even then it was had to squeeze in all the detail. The spires had figures on them as well as words, every little bit had some kind of decoration that was not necessarily symmetrical.

The place is still literally a construction site, with cranes moving materials around as the rest of us watch. It's as if they are putting on a show for us, that they are building this thing...

Same with the beautiful colours reflected inside...! Next time!

In any event it's an excuse to come back when it's finally completed... though Wikipedia says while the main construction will be completed in 2026, the decorations may not be completed until 2030 or 2032...

Port Visit: Palma de Mallorca

The Palace of L'Almudaina (left) and La Seu cathedral (right)

Our next port of call was Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands in Spain. We had a short shuttle ride to the main attraction, La Seu, or Palma Cathedral, a massive cathedral near the water, and it was built to look like a ship moored at the city's edge.

The beautiful nave of the cathedral

When James I, King of Aragon conquered the area, the mosque on that site was turned into a cathedral with construction starting in 1300 and didn't finish until 1601. James I wanted to make a statement with the church, that Christianity had established itself here. And it is a grand statement.

It's a Gothic cathedral complete with flying buttresses and has one of the largest rose windows in the world, known as "the Gothic eye". Its nave is also one of the highest in all the Gothic cathedrals in Europe.

After an earthquake struck in 1851, parts of the cathedral had to be rebuilt and was overseen by architect Antonio Gaudi.

Inside it's magnificent -- one is filled with awe seeing the light bouncing off the stained glass windows and creating a kaleidoscope effect with colours. It's absolutely beautiful. You feel so tiny in the cathedral and at the same time in awe of the beauty of the place that's quite eclectic.

Everyone is drawn to the nave, which has a kind of hanging chandelier, perhaps designed by Gaudi, with a string of lights supporting the crucifixion of Christ at the top, and below more strings of lights.

Our delicious seafood paella for lunch

To the right is an area that's been completely designed by Gaudi. It looks very organic and hardly structured. On the left it looks like the sea, with fish looking like they are coming out of the wall, while the other walls have various textures and sculptures covered with splattered paint. Was it a rush job or deliberately done like that to contrast with the orderliness of the cathedral?

Next door is the Palau de L'Almudaina, originally an Islamic fort that was converted into a residence for Mallorcan monarchs at the end of the 13th century.

It is very grand and solid inside, thanks to the Moorish architecture, while the walls are filled with Flemish tapestries and paintings. Some of the rooms are very grand (though probably cold in the evenings). One dining hall has a series of arches holding up the room, with a massive carpet on the floor and the windows overlook the sea.

The tomatoes (left) and mushrooms (right) were huge!

The palace has its own small chapel too, intimate, and even the vestments are on display in glass showcases. There is also a small courtyard complete with a fountain.

Afterwards we wandered through the streets in search of a bite to eat and found a small place that actually did a decent seafood paella, thought it took a while for it to be prepared.

Nearby was a food market, but many of the stalls were closing for the afternoon already. Of the ones that were still open, the produce looked amazing -- the tomatoes were massive together with the mushrooms, while the seafood, such as oysters looked delicious.

The elegant Parliament building

On our way back to the shuttle, we stumbled upon the Parliament building, a beautiful ornate building with the Spanish, Catalan and EU flags flying out front.

Manila Impressions

Hitching a ride on the back of an already full Jeepney in Manila

I recently got back from a five-day trip to Manila for work and it being my first trip to the Philippines it was an eye opener.

Before I went, I was told horror stories about the notorious traffic jams -- an acquaintance recalled being stuck in a car for two hours and it hardly moved. He gave up going to his destination and instead asked the driver to take him back to his hotel.

Another friend warned me to bring reading material and download a bunch of podcasts to listen to to while away the time stuck in traffic.

But on the whole we were lucky because the distance between our hotel and the conference venue was not too far -- it wasn't close enough to walk, but it took say 20 minutes by car when it probably took 10 minutes without traffic.

On our first day, a pair begging for money from cars idling

We were ferried everywhere by car, and the main reason is safety. A woman who escorted us has Chinese relatives living in Manila. She told us their house is surrounded by a two-storey tall fence and her uncle packs a gun with him every time they go out.

She says that many years ago things were worse -- her two young cousins were almost kidnapped while their chauffeur was driving them, but luckily knew he was being followed and managed to shake off the shady characters.

I asked if Rodrigo Duterte had anything to do with the country being safer, but our Filipina fixer said it was more because the economy was improving and people were earning more money.

Nevertheless, I saw many cars and Jeepneys -- pimped up long vehicles where people sat in the back -- a kind of cramped minibus -- had Duterte stickers on them.

They would like to believe that he represents them, and not the super rich.

When I was in high school in the 1980s, I had a few Filipina friends. At first they didn't explain why they were in Vancouver, but later I found out one of the families was anti-Marcos and was waiting for him to go. The others probably had the same political leanings.

In the business district, Manila is sleek and modern

I later found out on this trip that when Marcos came to power, he immediately started going after the powerful families that lived in the south who made their money through sugar cane plantations.

I heard that these families run the plantation like fiefdoms, paying their workers low wages so their children couldn't be well educated, but always making sure they give each family a turkey for Christmas.

This uneven development and the wealth gap is very similar to China's, though the Philippines have democracy, and China does not. In both cases, however, corruption still hasn't been eradicated.

Philippine culture is a mixed-up one, thanks to the colonization of the Spanish for over 300 years. As one Fliipina put it, the Spanish only pushed religion on the colony, and so the Philippines is the largest population of Roman Catholics in the world, thanks to birth control being illegal...

After the Spanish, the Americans came for about 50 years, and gave them American English, rule of law, Spam and democracy. It is only in the last few years that the Philippines is starting to figure out its own identity and move away from its colonial mentality and become proud of its heritage.

This is reflected in the food, that has a combination of Spanish, American, Japanese and Chinese influences. And now some progressive chefs are looking to indigenous ingredients to find new flavours.

A craft beer bar in Poblacion with friendly staff

It's interesting to see young Filipino chefs keen on coming back home after having learned abroad, and wanting to start a restaurant, cafe or a bar. Perhaps it's because rents are cheap and so is labour. But perhaps those are the best conditions to be able to experiment and take some risks.

In Hong Kong the start-up costs are so prohibitive that it's way too risky to even try.

The ironic thing is that rich Filipinos like to go to Hong Kong to see what the trends are, when we ourselves look elsewhere!

So I am well aware that my trip was the sanitized version of Manila, and that we haven't even seen how the other side lives. But we managed to try a few trendy places in Poblacion, a red light district that is becoming more gentrified, and the food was not only delicious but very cheap compared to Hong Kong.

Therefore if someone has a decent-paying job, they can afford to eat relatively well.

The people are nice on the whole, but not very bright at times. And things do go on Philippine time -- ie. at least 30 minutes later. It requires a lot of patience and gentle pushing to get things done -- berating them does nothing.

Another thing is that during this conference, I saw a lot of women making high-level decisions. They seem to be the ones getting things done. A Filipina explained to me that it's because the Philippines is a matriarchal society, and so things are done from a practical standpoint because the men are too lazy, and also women make decisions behind the scenes, which is totally acceptable.

It's fascinating to watch these movers and shakers, and I wonder if I'll be back again to discover more of this city and its people.