Like most members of Hong Kong society, I welcome the relaxation of the pandemic-informed social distancing restrictions. As the father of an aspiring competitive swimmer, however, I have to question the prioritisation of which restrictions to relax. It makes no sense that contact sports are now permitted while swimming pools remain closed. Most exhalation in swimming takes place under water where chlorine is known to have a deleterious impact on germs. Surely this is one of the safer environments in which to exercise. I would be grateful if our public health officials could explain the medical science behind their reopening priorities. And please don’t roll out the old canard about changing rooms being a worry: gyms and sports fields , changing rooms and all, have already reopened. Similarly the imposition of a three-week hotel quarantine is not matched anywhere else in the world that I am aware of. This is because the benefit of possibly preventing a few statistically insignificant transmissions does not justify the economic and psychological costs. Hong Kong cannot claim to be Asia’s World City if none of us can fulfil our regional and global work-related travel responsibilities because returning to three weeks’ quarantine is so daunting that we don’t travel. Two weeks’ quarantine is already way more than sufficient and I challenge our public health officials to produce statistical evidence to the contrary. Keith Noyes, Clear Water Bay
