COVID-19 | HK's 3rd Wave, 108 Cases in 1 Day (#81) (was: The Other Side)

MaeZe

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We need some NGOs (non-government organizations) including Doctors Without Borders to spread this mask wearing around places like Brazil.

I look at all those coffins and think if everyone had a damn mask on no one would spread it, no one would catch it, even lacking hand washing facilities. It breaks my heart to see such suffering that could so inexpensively be alleviated.

There are organizations sponsoring mosquito nets in malaria areas. It's time for organizing masks for refugees and favelas and all the other areas where they don't have access to anything else. I'm not sure where to get started but I'm going to go find out. I think, I hope. ;)
 

JJ Litke

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Lol!

It's working: we're almost back to fully open. We're at 1,064 confirmed cases, 1,029 recoveries, and 4 deaths after 8 people (returning from Pakistan) tested positive. But there had been no new cases till these 8. (We were free of additional cases for 3 days.)

We frown at / stare disapprovingly at anyone not wearing a mask or wearing it wrong until they put on one or correct their mask positioning.

And maintaining social distancing here is impractical, so we don't. On the other hand, we keep the masks on, frequently wash our hands (or sanitize as needed), and we don't eat out often.

It’s so weird that the people yelling for everything to reopen in the USA won’t take this tack. They could get their way about reopening and still keep things safer. Instead, they keep citing anti-mask propaganda about how masks don’t work, or people won’t wear them right anyway. Hell, T*ump could have lent some legitimacy to portraying himself as the hero, saving the economy while keeping people safe at the same time, if only he’d encourage masks.
 

MaeZe

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Trump's COVID 19 disaster is just going to get worse and worse until the Nov election. And then we'll be lucky if we survive his shit storm until Biden is sworn in in Jan.
 

Snitchcat

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Thought more about the New Normal.


Prior to the outbreak, many ladies in HK would go out with their hair wet in the mornings and let their hair air dry.


During and after the outbreak, the New Normal, is always go out with dry hair.


A small, subtle change, but telling.


Habits have been adjusted.
 

Roxxsmom

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Thought more about the New Normal.


Prior to the outbreak, many ladies in HK would go out with their hair wet in the mornings and let their hair air dry.


During and after the outbreak, the New Normal, is always go out with dry hair.


A small, subtle change, but telling.


Habits have been adjusted.

That makes sense if people are waiting to shower until after they go out to shop.

Sadly, as the US slowly (or not so slowly) reopens, people are letting their guard down re social distancing, as if no one can get sick now that we're in phase 2 or 3 or whatever. My spouse went to the grocery store last Friday, and he said fewer people were wearing masks that two weeks before. Mask wearing is more important than ever, now that more places are open and people are getting exposed more, but in the US there's a psychological factor in play, it seems. Of course, Americans are much more uncomfortable with masks overall than people in Hong Kong.
 

Snitchcat

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Of course, Americans are much more uncomfortable with masks overall than people in Hong Kong.

True that.

And my gripe now is: HK is now in its sixth month of wearing masks (since Jan 2020) whenever and wherever we're near other people, regardless of distance. Can we stop wearing masks yet? We're tired of this thing. Yet, we're not stopping until a legit vaccine is available, whatever the time line. We're just tired of wearing masks, is all. Onwards with the fashion trend of masks! (Fashion masks are a thing. Get them from the right places and they have a certified filter layer, too.)
 

waylander

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True that.

And my gripe now is: HK is now in its sixth month of wearing masks (since Jan 2020) whenever and wherever we're near other people, regardless of distance. Can we stop wearing masks yet? We're tired of this thing. Yet, we're not stopping until a legit vaccine is available, whatever the time line. We're just tired of wearing masks, is all. Onwards with the fashion trend of masks! (Fashion masks are a thing. Get them from the right places and they have a certified filter layer, too.)

Do you think people will feel comfortable out in public without a mask after an effective Covid-19 vaccine becomes available? There are, after all, other viruses in general circulation (though less virulent), or does this mark a permanent cultural shift?
 

MaeZe

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I can't wait to go out without the mask.

These masks aren't designed to keep viruses out. They work now if everyone wears them.
 

Goshawk31

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I'm so sad that some people see wearing masks as an infringement of their liberty. I hate wearing one too but would rather stay alive and healthy. (And, yeah, as someone mentioned above there are some pretty cute maskes out there.) Still .... Is there anything you can say to the maskless that might get them to re-think their actions?
 

Snitchcat

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I'm so sad that some people see wearing masks as an infringement of their liberty. I hate wearing one too but would rather stay alive and healthy. (And, yeah, as someone mentioned above there are some pretty cute maskes out there.) Still .... Is there anything you can say to the maskless that might get them to re-think their actions?

I've been wearing a mask for 6 months -- Jan 2020 - present. As have all Hongkongers.

What to say to the maskless? There isn't anything that will change their minds really, IMO. Many people hate admitting they have to change their mindset about various beliefs and "knowledge"; it's usually perceived as they're "wrong".

I guess if I were to make some sort of argument for the continued wearing of masks, I might talk to them about how staying alive and healthy is the first step towards being able to protest their infringement of liberty. Can't do that if they're sedated, intubated, and generally unavailable mentally or emotionally. Assuming the ICU has space. However, even that may not get these people to wear a mask.

On the other hand, there is something to be said for group action: Get a group of people wearing masks to shun those without masks -- humans like to belong. Being ostracised for something that others perceive as normal is quite a nasty feeling. Peer pressure is a good thing in this case.
 

Snitchcat

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Do you think people will feel comfortable out in public without a mask after an effective Covid-19 vaccine becomes available? There are, after all, other viruses in general circulation (though less virulent), or does this mark a permanent cultural shift?

Before COVID, we (Hongkongers) already wore masks if we were ill and had to be around other people. I think we'll just go back to this, albeit some people may feel comfortable wearing a mask whenever they're around strangers (I might be one of those people). Certainly, immuno-compromised individuals will probably continue with this precaution.
 

MaeZe

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I've been wearing a mask for 6 months -- Jan 2020 - present. As have all Hongkongers.

What to say to the maskless? There isn't anything that will change their minds really, IMO. Many people hate admitting they have to change their mindset about various beliefs and "knowledge"; it's usually perceived as they're "wrong".

I guess if I were to make some sort of argument for the continued wearing of masks, I might talk to them about how staying alive and healthy is the first step towards being able to protest their infringement of liberty. Can't do that if they're sedated, intubated, and generally unavailable mentally or emotionally. Assuming the ICU has space. However, even that may not get these people to wear a mask.

On the other hand, there is something to be said for group action: Get a group of people wearing masks to shun those without masks -- humans like to belong. Being ostracised for something that others perceive as normal is quite a nasty feeling. Peer pressure is a good thing in this case.

I almost said something the other day in the post office then my social breakers stopped me. There was one woman in the post office, no mask and ignoring the marks on the floor showing people in line where to stand six feet apart. Everyone else there had masks, about ten people. And everyone else in line stood on the marks.

I wasn't in line, I was there to drop mail off and check my PO Box. She even asked me for help with a question about where to put the address on a priority mail box and I answered.

When I got home I was upset with myself, thinking she could have exposed me even though I had my mask on. Of course I worried then for a few days. Next time I'm just going to risk being rude and say something.
 

frimble3

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If you're going to be rude, go all the way: speak slloowwly and with big hands gestures when you explain about wearing a mask and observing the markers. As though you were talking to someone dim-witted, on drugs or from another planet.
After all, you are trying to save her from herself and save others from her.
 

Snitchcat

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We're back to recently-eased restrictions: 8 people to a table only for restaurants. The restaurants are again operating at a reduced capacity. As for transport, three taxi drivers have been infected.

Total since Thursday's (9 July 2020) count: 34. Twenty-three were elderly residents in a care home.

Experts also warn that the fight against COVID-19 will be a long one (which we already knew, but it's always good to have experts back up this knowledge).
On Thursday, the government announced it would tighten recently-eased social distancing measures in light of a surge in locally-transmitted cases of Covid-19, as it confirmed 34 more local infections, along with eight imported ones.

Twenty-three of the latest patients are linked to an outbreak at an elderly care home at Tsz Wan Shan. Nine local cases are linked to previously confirmed patients, and three are taxi drivers.


Authorities have been unable to trace the source of two local infections.


Malik Peiris from the University of Hong Kong said the resurgence of local cases is extremely worrying, especially as there are a number of different clusters, including one involving taxi drivers – where tracing passengers is challenging.

https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1536907-20200710.htm?spTabChangeable=0


And thanks to the third wave of this pandemic, the restaurant sector is now paying the full price for the government's stupidity:
Gordon Lam, the head of the Small and Medium Restaurant Federation, said restaurants now have to “pay the price” for the government’s failure to curb the epidemic, while a lawmaker said another round of relief may be needed for the ailing sector.

“The gains we had made in the last two, three weeks since the Father's Day... this is going to hurt. Let us hope this is not going to hurt for too long,” [Tommy Leung, Catering Sector Lawmaker] said.
https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1536815-20200709.htm?spTabChangeable=0
 
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Snitchcat

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News reported that from Wed, 15 July onwards for 7 days, no dine-in from 6pm to 5am. Takeaway is ok.

Twelve types of gathering places are also closed.

All users of public transport must wear masks again.

Anyone not wearing a mask can be reasonably refused transport service -- the law and Gov support this.

Source: RTHK Radio One (Cantonese, so I haven't linked it).
 

Snitchcat

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I think I also heard that we're back to maximum of four people per table in a restaurant. And the distancing is back. Therefore, restaurant operating capacity is back to half.
 

Snitchcat

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Expert advice: Asymptomatic people are probably about now. So, keep your distance, keep your mask on, keep sanitizing and washing your hands.
 

frimble3

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That makes the asymptomatic sound like zombies, wandering around, seeking to infect others. And when I think of it that way, it sounds eerily accurate. Ward them off with masks, and drive them back with your freshly washed hands, people!
 

JJ Litke

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That makes the asymptomatic sound like zombies, wandering around, seeking to infect others. And when I think of it that way, it sounds eerily accurate. Ward them off with masks, and drive them back with your freshly washed hands, people!

This would make for a great veiled-pandemic story: zombies who look like everyone else and blend in, perhaps don’t even fully understand that they’re zombies, but they infect those who come into contact with them.
 

Snitchcat

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Death toll has just hit 9 in HK.

Confirmed infected is now over 1,500.

Number of asymptomatic people? Unknown.

Untraceable origin of infection? 6 people.

Untraceable suspected infected? Approx. 20.

Imported cases of latest infection? 11.

Previously not subject to restrictions and other measures? Airline pilots and crew. Now? They must have papers to certify that they are not infected. There was also reports that stated that various pilots and crew would not fly to HK because they didn't want to be subject to these restrictions. Ok, then, don't come here.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3092920/coronavirus-hong-kong-toughen-social-distancing
 
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Snitchcat

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Elderly are in the high-risk category, and because they have other diseases or chronic illnesses, it may not be obvious that they have contracted COVID-19. It's being advocated that before any Elderly is admitted to hospital that they get tested for COVID-19 first. So far, one hospital has managed to do this.

Also, apparently 40% of cases are of unknown origins. This is extremely worrying.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong...g-kong-third-wave-elderly-and-chronically-ill