Vaccination to Start in March

HKers will have to wait until March for vaccinations to start

Today Hong Kong recorded 12 new coronavirus cases, though health officials said yesterday that the figures were lower these few days perhaps because doctor's offices were closed for the Lunar New Year, and also people don't like to seek medical attention during this period either.

Eu must be quarantined in case of infection

Which is why it's hard to understand why the government already announced a few days ago that restaurants could serve dinner until 10pm and with four guests per table, as well as open other venues like gyms, cinemas and theme parks IF the case numbers continue to be "low", without giving a threshold number. Why not wait two weeks after Chinese New Year to see what the situation is like then?

But hotels, restaurants, beauty parlours, spas and the above-mentioned venues are already preparing to pivot for this coming Thursday when it really is a big IF.

Of the 12 new cases is a hairdresser with RTHK and may have infected 20 people who will be sent to quarantine. One of them is prominent barrister Audrey Eu Yuet-mee, who said she interacted with the hairdresser for about five minutes who did her hair for her appearance in a show called Legco Review.

Unfortunately she was supposed to represent Apple Daily founder and tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying in a 10-day trial starting Tuesday, but Eu will be replaced by another senior counsel instead. Lai is accused of participating in an illegal assembly in 2019.

Nip says all 18 districts will have jab centres

Meanwhile the Hong Kong government had said repeatedly that it would start administering vaccine injections after Chinese New Year, but now that won't happen until March.

Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen said the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine would arrive in Hong Kong at the end of February.

"As soon as the vaccine has arrived, we will kick-start the mechanism for appointments," he said, referring to the vaccine booking system.

He said at least 20 centres will adminster the jab in all of Hong Kong's 18 districts.

Nip said they had already done rehearsals to make sure the scheme runs safely and smoothly.

Over 700,000 have downloaded the app to use

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung wrote on his blog today that the government's goal is the vaccinate most of the population by the end of the year. 

And apparently some 700,000 people have downloaded the LeaveHomeSafe app.  

Warning for HK Govt in Year of the Ox

Lau shows the prophecy he picked out with the fortune stick

 

The Year of the Ox has a cautious warning for Hong Kong authorities.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the ritual fortune stick is chosen at Che Kung Temple in Sha Tin, and this year the interpretation is for the government to be more decisive.

Kenneth Lau Ip-keung, who chairs the powerful rural body, the Heung Yee Kuk, picked a "neutral" fortune stick, though he said it should serve as an alarm call for officials, referring to the year-long coronavirus pandemic.

Che Kung Temple is in Sha Tin

"Hong Kong is facing a big problem. The people suffer pain. It's hard to do business now and many people are left jobless. Every step of the government is important, particularly at this stage," said Lau, who is also a pro-Beijing lawmaker.

"If it is not decisive and moves a wrong step, then the problem will be big. The fire will grow bigger. So the prophecy asks the government to implement its policies in a decisive, precise and timely manner, otherwise the problem will be big."

The fortune stick is one of 96 in a bamboo cylinder, each stick is numbered and refers to an omen, with 35 good ones, 17 bad, and 44 neutral. To pick the fortune stick, you have to shake the bamboo cylinder at an angle until one stick falls out. If two or more fall out at the same time, then put the sticks back in and shake it again.

Each omen is written as a poem, and usually people ask a fortune teller to help them interpret what it means. Lau's stick was number 45. It roughly translates as:

"One must discuss with others before taking any action. Matters of the world are fraught and in vain.

Shake the bamboo container until a stick falls out

"The wood that piled up in one's storage is not burnt for nothing. The knowledge knows before a fire burns."

It goes on to say:

"Everything is not ideal, but the self should have peace and the family has some luck. Those who seek money cannot yield a great outcome."

If one looks at how the Hong Kong government has handled the pandemic, the omen seems to describe it well, as the authorities have done several U-turns on many policies in battling the virus, including the latest decision on allowing the Lunar New Year flower markets to open, when originally it said they would be cancelled.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has also been criticized for relying on a small circle of advisors instead of consulting more broadly. Perhaps one remembers the time when the government stopped allowing all meals in restaurants and had to reverse the decision in 48 hours after seeing people eating takeaway lunches in the rain?

The government u-turned on the flower market

Lau said: "The pandemic is just the same as fire. If it is not put off in a timely manner, it will spread so fast."

As the number of new infections was 12 today, but no closer to Lam's goal of zero, Lau said the government needed to do a better job in tackling imported cases and improving contact tracing.

When asked by reporters whether the prophecy suggested the Beijing-imposed national security law could not address the city's problems, Lau said: "The administration could not walk its talk on many occasions. I believe when making policies, the government should make them go forward, aside from thinking about them carefully."

Sounds ominous.

He gave the example of Hong Kong's housing and land shortages, saying it took two decades to develop an area.

Lester Shum was one of 50 arrested last month

Reporters also asked Lau whether Hong Kong authorities should refrain from prosecuting opposition figures, give that one interpretation of the prophecy suggested the importance of harmony.

"Politically, striving for harmony is always the best. People's grievances should be addressed. It can't always use tough measures. That can't solve the matter. Every society needs harmony and unity to go forward," he said.

Wonder if he meant to send that message to Beijing as well, after how it dealt with the social unrest in 2019 followed by over 10,000 arrests of protesters, and last month's arrest of 50 former lawmakers and pro-democracy activists for subversion in an alleged plot to "overthrow" the government...

Hong Kong's Further Shrinking Press Freedoms

The BBC World Service will not be carried by RTHK anymore

 

Last week the UK revoked the broadcasting license of China Global Television Network (CGTN), after it said the state-owned broadcaster was run by the Chinese Communist Party and therefore violated British laws.

That led to Bejiing banning the BBC World Service "within Chinese territory" for what it called "serious content violations" following an explosive report on sexual assault of Uyghur women in "vocational training centres" that many critics say are internment camps.

The BBC report says Uyghur women were raped

Just hours after that announcement, Radio Television Hong Kong followed suit with an announcement this morning, which led to an outcry that press freedom is further deteriorating in the city.

RTHK stopped broadcasting BBC's World Service and News Weekly as of 11pm tonight, though other TV networks like TVB, Now TV and Cable TV said they would continue offering programs by the UK-based broadcaster.

Previously RTHK aired BBC World Service daily from 11pm to 7am, and the Cantonese-language radio show BBC News Weekly every Sunday at 7am. It was not clear what the programing would be replaced with.

The head of the University of Hong Kong's journalism and media studies centre, Keith Richburg, says it's "surprising" that RTHK has pulled the plug on its live relay of BBC World Service.

Richburg questions RTHK's decision on BBC

"Hong Kong is supposedly still autonomous, first of all, And so a decision like this seems to have been something that would have been ordered either by the Hong Kong government for RTHK or coming from the top from China and relayed to RTHK," he said.

"We really kind of need to get to the background of how that decision was made and made so quickly as well. People would be very very curious to know what the decision-making process was behind that."

Meanwhile, the RTHK Programme Staff Union called on the broadcaster and the relevant government bureau to explain the decision.

In a statement, the union says under One Country, Two Systems, it has never heard of other examples when Hong Kong has to follow instructions by the mainland's broadcasting regulator.

It noted that RTHK has been relaying BBC World Service for more than four decades, and it's a pity that the arrangement has come to an end.

RTHK's move follows Beijing's decision

Finally in a written statement, RTHK cited Beijing's decision as the reason for its move, while a spokeswoman said the decision was made within the broadcaster's management.

"The decision was made among RTHK management, and concerned heads of sections were informed this morning," said Echo Wai Pui-man, head of corporate communications and standards at RTHK.

So it seems the decision was political in following Beijing's lead. Will this affect how other foreign media outlets operate in Hong Kong? 

Richburg now knows where the city stands... behind Beijing.

Contact-Tracing App Put to the Test

The contact-tracing app has not allayed fears of govt snooping

Since Secretary for Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee's announcement Wednesday that from February 18 people will need to use the LeaveHomeSafe app to enter restaurants and other venues that were previously shut, the app has been downloaded 500,000 times, up from 55,000 from yesterday.

People must use the app from February 18

Probably related is that cheap mobile phones have been snapped up just to use this app. The cheapest phone is the Nokia C2 that costs HK$698, but it's sold out in both Fortress and Broadway. A slew of people must have purchased the phone yesterday as it's not a very popular model.

Although there is no need to register, but just download the app, there were concerns it would allow the government to mine more information about the user, such as access to photos, and wifi connections, which the authorities have said are blocked, but to be absolutely safe, people purchased a second phone.

It will be interesting to see if the contact tracing app really is helpful because so far health officials admit it has not been very effective mostly because people are not using it.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said Thursday even though people have downloaded the app, they don't necessarily use it.

Dr Chuang (left) says many don't use the app

"We always ask if the patients used the app. If they did, we'll get the data from their apps about where they have been at what time. The app would notify other users if they have been to the same places at the same time. We've done this less than 20 times," she said. "Many people who have downloaded the app on their mobile phones didn't use it." 

So from next Thursday there may be a surge in use of the app -- will the government's servers be able to handle the onslaught? 

The LeaveHomeSafe app allows users to scan a government-issued QR code at 70,000 places from wet markets to shops, restaurants and even parks. The person scans the code when they walk into the premises and then click the "leave" button when exiting.

The app can be used in taxis

In taxis, users can scan the taxi registration mark or manually input the registration mark. 

The concept is that if someone else is found to be infected and was at the same place and time as you, an alert will be made on the phone and send you some healthcare advice.

The government claims the records of a person's whereabouts are encrypted and only held in the phone for 31 days.

So we shall see if this LeaveHomeSafe app really works next week...