How Hong Kong defeated the coronavirus and avoided the blockade

When Apple closed its retail stores worldwide amid the coronavirus pandemic, a handful of outlets were exempt, including its six Hong Kong locations.

In fact, much of Hong Kong has felt relatively normal this year compared to its peers, who enacted strict blocking measures.

Since its first confirmed Covid-19 case on January 22, Hong Kong has gone through phased closings of government offices, schools, gyms, and bars. But other services were not affected, including dinner service in restaurants, shops, shopping malls, and trains.

Today, office workers have returned to business and the city has reopened its gyms and even nightclubs.

According to all reports, the situation in Hong Kong could have been bad. It is one of the densest cities in the world. Public transportation is often full. There are even direct flights and trains from Wuhan, the Chinese city where Covid-19 first emerged late last year. In fact, more than 2.5 million people arrived from mainland China in January alone.

With a population of 7.5 million people, Hong Kong has registered around 1,200 cases. Singapore, by comparison, has had more than 43,000 cases, amid an outbreak in migrant worker housing. That prompted the city-state to enact blockade measures for more than two months.

In contrast, Hong Kong had consecutive weeks of zero new cases.

Hong Kong managed to avoid a crash while containing, and largely eliminating, Covid-19.

Here are five reasons why Hong Kong managed to avoid the blockade while defeating Covid-19:

Many people in Hong Kong recall experiencing the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003.

“We had never experienced anything like that at the time,” Leah Choi told CNBC, recalling her experience of growing up in Hong Kong. “But because of our experience during SARS, the people of Hong Kong are much more alert.”

Choi recalled that the teachers took her temperature and had to wear masks all the time.

“Today, the people of Hong Kong are much more diligent when facing the coronavirus outbreak, where we know what to do because we already had an experience of what could happen if we do not take all these security measures against the virus,” he said. .

The outbreak, first identified in 2002, infected nearly 1,800 people in Hong Kong. After the health crisis, the Hong Kong government created the Center for Health Protection, which specializes in disease prevention and control.

“When they heard about the cases that were happening in mainland China, people took it seriously,” Keiji Fukuda, a professor and director of the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health, told CNBC.

“The public really responded, and therefore, in most places in the city, you could see that most people were wearing masks,” he said, referring to the days after the city’s first confirmed case.

Hong Kong closed nine of its 12 border checkpoints in late January, leaving the remaining three open to facilitate the flow of goods. As the situation evolved, the city banned non-residents from entering, starting March 25. In early April, there were only about 100 daily visitor arrivals and those arriving had to undergo a strict 14-day quarantine.

Marco Bellanda, a six-year-old Hong Kong resident, flew from his hometown in Italy back to the city on May 10, where he was immediately examined by Covid-19. Despite his negative test, he was still required to be quarantined for 14 days. During that period, the government tracked his location through an app and an electronic wristband that he was to wear.

“I have to sleep. I have to shower. I have to cook. I have to do everything with this,” he told CNBC during a video call while he was quarantined at his home. When she returned to her apartment after her initial test, she was instructed to walk around her home, so that the government could guarantee that her movement for the next two weeks would be strictly within the coordinates of her home.

“I can’t go down or out, otherwise I think it will sound,” he said. “Actually, I don’t want to try because the fine would be HK $ 25,000 ($ 3,225) and six months in jail.”

In addition to the bracelet, Marco also received sporadic calls from government officials on WhatsApp, making sure he was home and asking if he had any symptoms or was not feeling well.

As infection levels plummeted, the city gradually eased some of its border controls in late April.

Tracking contacts is a method of locating people who may have been exposed to Covid-19. In many cases, these people are instructed to isolate themselves for 14 days to control any potential symptoms. The practice has been widely used in many Asian countries during the coronavirus pandemic.

Upon his return to Hong Kong, government officials asked Bellanda to write down the license plate of the taxi that took him home. In this way, the authorities could contact the taxi driver in case Bellanda later tested positive for Covid-19.

The Hong Kong government also updates an interactive online map that shows detailed information on all confirmed cases in the city, including dates and times of movement.

Hong Kong’s relatively small population has made it easier for the government to monitor and control the movement of its people rather than places with larger populations.

For example, the US has had different responses to the pandemic at the federal, state, county, and city levels, making a coordinated approach much more challenging.

Professor Fukuda, who previously worked at the World Health Organization, has lived in both the United States and Asia. He thinks that the cultural perspective has played an important role in the way the outbreak has been contained in the latter.

“If you can get the people and the government to work together, it is an incredibly powerful combination,” he said. “There is a very high awareness of not wanting to affect other people and not wanting to put them at risk. So when the public says, we are part of the reason why things are going well, it is absolutely true.”

Fukuda noted that politicization has hampered the United States and its ability to contain the outbreak. The United States has reported more than 2.6 million confirmed cases.

“In Asia, there is a very significant degree of concern for other people, for taking care of each other,” he said. “In the United States, it has really become apparent that there are great cultural differences in the country. So, whether you are in rural areas or cities, whether you are in red or blue states.”

“While in Hong Kong, the outbreak has brought people closer,” he said.