Letters | Covid-19 in Hong Kong: be careful with effects of cash handout for a positive test
- Rather than a handout for falling sick, help the needy by referring them to welfare organisations, offer a small cash bonus to all who submit to testing and provide a safety net to sustain the wider public in difficult times
No doubt the pandemic, the lockdown and the virtual halt to many sectors of the economy have pushed income levels to alarming lows. And the handout is well-intentioned; it is meant to encourage testing by providing a safety net to those who cannot work for a time after testing positive.
The problem, however, is that it rewards those testing positive, not the act of testing itself. What if, in an unfortunate scenario, some people were to take advantage of the scheme and purposefully go to crowded areas in hopes of a positive test, thus receiving that money, no-cost sick leave and public medical care, as some netizens have suggested in mocking the policy? Would people risk their own health for this? Why not? There is little hope of making a decent living given the circumstances anyway, some might think.
Worse still, it might present one of the greatest coronavirus risks to the community if our guard is lowered. From dining to transport, there is a good chance the coronavirus crisis will escalate, endangering all. To those who become infected because of the selfish acts of others, HK$5,000 would not bring back their health, or even their lives.
Whether enforced or incentivised, large-scale testing is necessary. But the crux is never to benefit those who might wish to game the system.
I believe any of the following alternatives would fulfil the purpose of supporting the poor and managing the pandemic better than the handout: referring the needy to welfare organisations; giving a small cash bonus to all those who submit to testing; providing a safety net to sustain the wider public in difficult times.
03:25
How Hong Kong’s new coronavirus contact-tracing app works
Everyone is familiar with the slogan, “Together, We Fight the Virus!”. We are certainly counting on every stakeholder in society to fight together. Any governmental response should unite us towards a common goal, while cash handouts may provide perverse incentives for some people to do the opposite.