Letters | Hong Kong Covid-19 fourth wave: fight the virus, not the government

Public reluctance to taking part in mass testing and failure to comply strictly with social distancing rules have contributed to the city’s drawn-out battle with the coronavirus

Meanwhile, the government should also rethink its vaccine strategy and measures to lift Hong Kong’s battered businesses

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People hold up their phones next to the Victoria Harbour waterfront in Hong Kong on January 1. Despite the Covid-19 restrictions in place and the New Year fireworks cancelled, people gathered to welcome in 2021. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:15am, 23 Jan 2021Updated: 7:15am, 23 Jan 2021

A year on and Hong Kong is still combating Covid-19 like in the early days. When the disease first emerged last January, Hong Kong was at the forefront of wearing masks and working from home. We kept our fatality rate low. Then, we did well.

But as of January 21, the number of confirmed cases had risen to 9,868 and 167 people have died. If we had truly learned from our experience with Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome), we should not have dropped our guard against the virus.

Time and again, Hongkongers did not cooperate with the government to fight the virus. We had a chance last September to do a citywide Covid-19 test to identify asymptomatic virus carriers, but many Hongkongers opted not to participate.

We could have curbed the spread of the virus by having fewer parties and gatherings, but many chose to celebrate festival after festival in groups. If we truly want a life without masks, we must be disciplined enough to stay home whenever possible. We should fight the virus together, not leave it to the government.

Hong Kong is preparing now to roll out mass vaccination, and the elderly in care homes are likely to be among the first to be vaccinated. But elderly home residents do not go out much. A more effective strategy would be to control possible exposure from care workers and visitors.