As the coronavirus spreads globally, packed restaurants and handshakes show Hong Kong is getting complacent

While mask wearing is still ubiquitous, more Hongkongers are venturing out to restaurants and social gatherings. Meanwhile, Covid-19 continues to spread and the risk of contracting it is still high

Peter Kammerer

Published: 7:00am, 10 Mar 2020

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Hong Kong has always been ahead of the curve on the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. Our city recorded its first case of the disease on January 23, becoming the third place outside mainland China – following Macau and Taiwan – to report a confirmed case. Hongkongers were in the vanguard of panic buying face masks, hand sanitiser, gloves and daily necessities.

We’ve been working from home, schools have been closed for weeks, entertainment and sports events have been cancelled and warnings about the risk of infection from social gatherings have long been ringing in our ears. Familiarity has set in, but we are also trapped in our shoebox flats and longing for social interaction, leading to our city becoming complacent just as the rest of the world is getting worried.

I live in North Point, one of the worst-affected districts. A Buddhist temple a mere three-minutes’ walk from my door has been the site of at least 18 of the city’s confirmed cases. One of those who tested positive for the virus worked at a nearby KFC. Seven members of a family came down with the disease after eating at a dim sum restaurant not far away.

Some people in the block I live in are under home quarantine. A number of restaurants in the area have closed temporarily due to the lack of customers; one has shut down for good.

But while the streets have, for two months, been akin to those of a ghost town, life is fast returning to normal. One restaurant I occasionally go to is again packed at lunchtime with workers from nearby offices. Coffee shops are doing a brisk trade before and after office hours.

A woman wearing a face mask waits in a coffee shop in Causeway Bay on March 3. Photo: Martin Chan

People are still wearing masks on the streets and in lifts, but they are only too happy to remove them and sit, elbow to elbow, at the usual tightly packed tables, for a meal and a chat. Horror of horrors, a neighbour I had not seen for some time even reached out to greet me with a handshake.

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These actions are what is known as complacency. People have been cooped up in their homes for too long and are eager to get back to their daily routine. As the constantly climbing numbers prove, though, Covid-19 has not gone away.

Of course, many of us could also be overreacting to something not as bad as seasonal influenza, but until there is evidence that Covid-19 is a less serious threat than the flu, we should remain alert. The uncertainties of how the infection spreads, how people who show no symptoms can transmit it and that some are super-spreaders makes for continuing risks.

Now, with the virus rapidly making its way around the world, Hong Kong’s vast international air links and global business environment add an inevitable worrying dimension – imported cases, like that of a businessman who had visited London and Paris and is believed to have contracted it in one of those places. We should perhaps now avoid places frequented by travellers.

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As for that attempted handshake – well, for me, it spoke volumes of just how blasé some Hongkongers have become. I’ve never been fond of the custom, which dates to past centuries when people carried knives and other sharp instruments for protection; exposing the “good” hand in greeting was proof no harm was meant.

But as the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic in 2003 showed, touching hands is also a perfect way to spread disease. Confronted by Covid-19, the world is now relearning about the elbow and fist bump, foot shake and my preferred method, the slight bow. Japanese had it right all the time.

Discarded face masks on footpaths and escalators, and the thousands washing up on beaches or being found near hiking trails, are further proof that lessons haven’t been learned.

We don’t need to panic buy any more and masks are not as difficult to come by – or at least we’re more willing now to pay inflated prices than before – but that doesn’t mean the risk is any less. We’re still learning about this coronavirus and no cure exists. The worst we can be at this time in its evolution is complacent.

Peter Kammerer is a senior writer at the Post

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