The Good News, Bad News

Many people took advantage of the opportunity to get the jab

 

This morning a lot of people in Hong Kong signed up for the vaccine online now that the government has allowed people from the age of 30 upwards to get it, as well as domestic helpers, and students 16 years and older who are studying overseas.

The process was relatively efficient, though if you spent time reading through all the precautionary measures and possible side effects, then you wasted precious time getting the dates and times you wanted.

Now people over 30 are eligible to get vaccinated

Nevertheless some of these people are getting the jab as early as this Friday and are only too excited, showing off their confirmation emails on social media.

Today there were 18 cases recorded, five imported, and five more added to the growing gym cluster to 127.

Yesterday University of Hong Kong microbiologist Ho Pak-leung complained that the government's LeaveHomeSafe app is not working effectively to notify people if they had been in the same place at the same time as an infected person.

"The 100 or so people must have gone out for dining in the past 10 days. We are not seeing there's any improvement in contact tracing on that front. Although many people have installed the LeaveHomeSafe, the app seems not to have fully shown its effectiveness," he said.

A friend told me her three colleagues went to the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong recently, one used the app, the other two wrote down the contact details. In the end it was the latter two who were notified by the hotel and not the one who used LeaveHomeSafe!

Leung said if there is a delay in tracking down people there could be more clusters forming from restaurants, which we have seen here and there, with places like Zuma, Somm, Mandarin Bar + Grill, Arabica and Tree House just to name a few.

Dr Ho worries tracing app is not effective enough

There is also the concern that new infections won't show up for about two weeks too.

The chance to get a vaccine can't come fast enough.

Meanwhile Hong Kong is facing its highest unemployment rate since 2004 at 7.2 percent. That means more than 261,000 people are out of a job, 8,300 more than before.

The sectors most affected are tourism, hospitality and retail, while the food and beverage area has improved slightly. 

Back in 2003 the jobless rate was 8.5 percent during SARS, but that was for about four or five months, compared to now being well over a year. 

If that wasn't bad enough news, the government has approved fare hikes for buses by as much as 12 percent.

With bus fares going up, will more take the tram?

This is hard to understand because during the pandemic last year till now the frequency of the buses have decreased significantly, making people wait longer for buses or they are more packed. 

Fares for Citybus and New World First Bus will go up 12 percent in two phases, one in April the next in January, while Kowloon Motor Bus can charge 8.5 percent more, and New Lantao Bus company can raise fares by 9.8 percent.

However Long Win Bus, which runs bus services to the airport will not see an increase in fares as the government believes travel will come back soon...

At the same time the government is increasing the public transport subsidy to HK$500 per person, up from the current HK$100 and as long as people spend at least HK$200 on public transport per month.

Maybe -- just maybe -- this may push some people to use the tram and the Star Ferry more often.

Or in my case, walk more.

5.5M HK Residents can Get Vaccine

Nip announced more people are eligible for vaccination

In a bid to get more people vaccinated, the Hong Kong government has now allowed anyone from the ages of 30 to 59 to get the jab, along with domestic helpers and students 16 years and older who have studied abroad.

This potentially means 5.5 million people can register for the vaccine, and one expects the online registration system could crash tomorrow morning at 9am when millions of people will try to register for a time and date.

Many choosing BioNTech over Sinovac vaccine

They will also be fighting over the rest of the BioNTech vaccine, as there are growing concerns over the Sinovac one that has now recorded a seventh death and two people experienced mild Bell's palsy.

The announcement was made this afternoon at a press conference by Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen.

"After considering the supply of Covid-19 vaccines and operation of the vaccination scheme, we have decided to expand the scope of the priority groups to let more people who are eager to get vaccinated get the shots," Nip said.

"People aged 30 or older make up the majority of the city's working population... quite a lot of domestic workers also need to help take care of elderly people, children and the disabled. Some hourly paid workers also serve more than one family, therefore it is appropriate to include domestic workers at an earlier stage," he added.

So far 198,100 people have gotten the first dose of vaccine, either Sinovac or BioNTech.

Originally there was a schedule prioritizing people such as front line healthcare workers, seniors, residents and staff of disabled care homes, the police, postal workers, hygiene workers, and public transport workers.

Ursus Fitness cluster grows to 122 cases

But that has now all gone out the window and now 80 percent of the population can go register for the jab.

A few of my colleagues are already very eager to get registered for the vaccine. Some friends and a colleague have taken the BioNTech shot and have not reported any side effects so far. Others friends and colleagues would rather wait a few months and see how it goes.

At the same press conference this afternoon Secretary for Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said the vaccination rate will determine when the border restrictions will be lifted. 

Today Hong Kong recorded 30 new coronavirus cases, with the Ursus Fitness gym cluster expanding to 122 cases and 860 close contacts sent to quarantine. 

A debate on racism has flared up about how the gym cluster involves expats, but hopefully this incident will shake up that community to take the virus more seriously. There are many anecdotes of them congregating in large groups or not wearing their masks properly (many still wearing their masks below the nose or taking it off when on the phone)...

 

Justice Served in Toilet Paper Heist

 

Today there were 24 new coronavirus cases, and tonight there are lockdowns in several buildings near Ursus Fitness in Sai Ying Pun where the latest cluster has evolved to 109 so far. If the gym cluster continues to expand, Hong Kong could be in its fifth wave.

But way back when the pandemic first began last January, there was an unfounded rumour that the border between China and Hong Kong would shut down and what did people really need? Toilet paper!

Then the hoarding began, with people fighting over bog rolls in the supermarket and soon retail establishments had to set a limit of two packs per person.

Toilet paper were stolen from this Wellcome

And then the heist happened -- at 6am on February 17 last year, 600 rolls of Virjoy toilet paper worth HK$1,695 (US$217) were stolen at knife point by three masked men at at Wellcome supermarket in Mongkok.

The delivery driver who was threatened with the knife later called the police, who managed to recover all 600 rolls the same day in two locations near the supermarket. The three men were arrested soon after.

Fast forward to March 11, and the trio were sentenced to 40 months in jail each for robbery. 

Warehouse worker Ho Chi-leung, 27, transport worker Lee Yan-to, 34, and steel bender Lee Yip-tong, 30, pleaded guilty and in mitigation expressed remorse. Ho apologized to the delivery man.

The stolen goods were quickly recovered by police

While their defense lawyers said the robbery was not elaborate and did not involve valuables, and the stolen goods were recovered, Deputy District Judge David Cheung Chi-wai said the stolen goods could not be valued by their nominal price because of the circumstances at the time.

The judge also noted the three worked together and were equipped, which suggested they had a plan, albeit a simple one.

Justice served.

HK Govt Continues the Spin

Lam, in jacket matching orchids, explains electoral changes

The Hong Kong government continues its verbal gymnastics to explain the changes to the city's electoral system that makes one wonder if it is a parallel universe or completely illogical.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor gave an interview with state media broadcaster CGTN, where she said pro-democracy politicians will see their chances of winning office increase after these electoral reforms -- as long as they prove themselves to be "patriots".

"Hong Kong is a very free and diverse society, we welcome people with different political positions and different views about the best system to serve Hong Kong... there is absolutely no intention to undermine the system of Hong Kong and dilute this diversity and freedoms in Hong Kong," she said.

Xi (centre) casts his vote on HK electoral reform

"If we have the same number of so-called pro-democratic persons in Hong Kong, as long as all these people are able to meet the standards of a patriot, then they now have more opportunities to take part in [an] election and win an election."

She really did say that. Are we talking about the same place, Hong Kong, where the Election Committee has increased to 1,500 members, and it will arbitrarily decide who is patriotic enough to run for the Legislative Council elections.

And while she said there is no intention to dilute diversity in Hong Kong, then why did the National People's Congress agree to add another 20 pro-establishment lawmakers in Legco?

Besides, most of the pan-democrats are either charged with subversion under the national security law, currently in prison serving for other convictions, or have fled Hong Kong.

Who is left to even dare to try to run?

Tsang says being a patriot is like family

Meanwhile Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai said maybe the analogy of family could help the public understand the requirement of being a patriot.

"If you love your family, you will sincerely accept, endorse and respect them. You may criticize them when they are not doing good. But you won't ask outsiders to confront them... It's not something difficult to achieve," he told a radio program.

Perhaps Tsang doesn't understand that not everyone loves their family, and sometimes you do need outsiders to intervene because the situation is untenable.

And there are some families where no criticism is allowed whatsoever; if you do then you have to get out.

So the spinning continues and not many are convinced. 

It also explains why the take up rate for vaccinations is poor, perhaps because the government lost its integrity ages ago?