Picture of the Day: Dog Encounters

Flash, the three-year-old Shiba with his owner

In Covid news, Hong Kong recorded 52,523 cases today, and 188 deaths, of which 136 were in the past 24 hours. 

It's the same refrain again, how the vast majority of those who died were not vaccinated, and hospitals are completely overwhelmed, and now there are reports of not enough oxygen tanks for patients who need them. And there aren't enough doctors and nurses to keep track of the oxygen tanks so some patients are literally gasping for air...

BUT we have to find some sanity from this madness, which is why I go out for walks as much as possible.

Tonight we met this three-year-old Shiba called Flash!

He was very friendly towards us and was happy to have us pet him. He slinked around us like a cat, encouraging us to run our hands in his fur. His owner said he really liked people, and that he liked us!

Playing with animals is great especially during this stressful time. They have no idea what is going on and just want to play. 

We hope we bump into Flash again soon!

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...

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.

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...