Hong Kong has been hit by a third wave of Covid-19, which is a bit discouraging. The figures here pale in comparison to the figures breaking headlines every day in the U.S., but I guess we are demonstrating to the world how hard it is to keep this disease under control even in arguably some of the most optimal scenarios.
There have been 173 cases in the past week and rising, of which 107 are local infections. I know this sounds like a tiny number comparatively, but contrast that with the fact that we had gone weeks here with no local cases (for a stretch all reported ones were close relatives of those infected or else those who had recently returned from travel). Worryingly, this time around the chain of transmission is also significantly less clear, with many individuals unable to be effectively contact traced.
Still, I take heart in the fact that masks and mask wearing in public are ubiquitous, and I am hopeful people are being more vigilant about good hand hygiene. I think we are back to staying away from restaurants, bars, soft play areas... basically anywhere in an enclosed space where people don't wear masks!
Ironically, even though this third wave has been largely reported by experts here to be the most dangerous, the government seems more hesitant to implement social distancing measures - maybe because we finally just got everything opened up again. I could see a near future in which it takes longer after each resurgence before restrictions loosen and people let down their guard, at which point another resurgence will likely be taking place, at which point the "dance" part of the hammer and the dance resembles the spastic movements of a raver under strobe lights.
The playgroups and activities that finally just resumed and opened are now struggling to figure out what to do. For now, all but one of Lola's extracurriculars remain open, with the huge caveat that they are all adopting a wait and see approach.
There have been 173 cases in the past week and rising, of which 107 are local infections. I know this sounds like a tiny number comparatively, but contrast that with the fact that we had gone weeks here with no local cases (for a stretch all reported ones were close relatives of those infected or else those who had recently returned from travel). Worryingly, this time around the chain of transmission is also significantly less clear, with many individuals unable to be effectively contact traced.
Still, I take heart in the fact that masks and mask wearing in public are ubiquitous, and I am hopeful people are being more vigilant about good hand hygiene. I think we are back to staying away from restaurants, bars, soft play areas... basically anywhere in an enclosed space where people don't wear masks!
Ironically, even though this third wave has been largely reported by experts here to be the most dangerous, the government seems more hesitant to implement social distancing measures - maybe because we finally just got everything opened up again. I could see a near future in which it takes longer after each resurgence before restrictions loosen and people let down their guard, at which point another resurgence will likely be taking place, at which point the "dance" part of the hammer and the dance resembles the spastic movements of a raver under strobe lights.
The playgroups and activities that finally just resumed and opened are now struggling to figure out what to do. For now, all but one of Lola's extracurriculars remain open, with the huge caveat that they are all adopting a wait and see approach.
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