In a climate of collective fear, the labelling and targeting of some people is unfortunately commonplace. In every wave of Covid-19 infections, I have made an appeal, as the chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission, to the public to not discriminate against an entire industry or community based on the background of the infected person. In this round of outbreak, we have seen hamster owners, flight attendants and the Pakistani community become targets of blame. Members of the South Asian community have expressed their concerns to me that the widespread coverage of a virus transmission chain starting with a Pakistani woman might lead to backlash against the entire community. We understand that to track the transmission chain, it is essential to be precise and provide details, sometimes personal. However, whether this information leads to those individuals and the groups they belong to being shunned and discriminated against depends on the language of the reporting. The media plays an important role, not just in providing information, but also in shaping public opinion. It is an important responsibility. Social media users need to be reasonable and rational too. I would like to applaud the Post for reporting objectively, collecting various viewpoints and featuring the less represented communities equally. A letter published in these columns (“Home quarantine could be on the cards for close Covid-19 contacts, but are Hongkongers prepared?” January 25) talked about studies by a centre at Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Medicine on guidelines for home quarantine. Interestingly, these studies also shed light on concerns that people have regarding home quarantine. Around 50 per cent of respondents worried about being discriminated against by neighbours if a household member was under home quarantine. Avoiding contact for some time is advised, but shunning people, blaming them and discriminating against them is certainly not. A reasonable person knows not to tar everyone with the same brush. I urge the public to analyse information calmly and prudently and not make extrapolations. As for the authorities and the media, paying extra attention to the choice of words and weighing them against the potential harm they may cause is paramount. In stressful times such as now, when fear reigns and people are looking for scapegoats, any negative inference can light the tinderbox. It is time to focus our collective energies on fighting the virus, not each other. If nothing else, the pandemic has taught us that we are interconnected and the only way to overcome it is through coming together as a community. Ricky Chu, chairperson, Equal Opportunities Commission Let’s not overstate the threat of this Covid-19 wave I refer to “Losing Covid-19 war ‘is a national safety issue’” ( January 23 ) and think that Ta Kung Pao is inducing undue fear with such an editorial. Recent letters, “Under zero-Covid, vaccination rate doesn’t seem to matter” ( January 20 ), “Pandemic rules risk leaving our poor city broken” ( January 21 ), “Covid traps city between and rock and hard place” ( January 22 ) and “Claim by the HK government that it had no choice but to cull 2,000 hamsters rings hollow” ( January 22 ), indicate that Hongkongers are becoming increasingly disillusioned, or exasperated, by our government’s knee-jerk responses to the pandemic. It has become obvious that our officials and media are ignoring scientific data in a rush to “one country” political signalling. The known characteristics of Omicron will render the “zero-Covid policy” futile – both in Hong Kong and mainland China. The knock-on mental health, commercial, labour and social impacts show that the government’s restrictions are becoming more damaging than Covid-19 illness. The Post reports that a Hong Kong health expert says “the fifth wave may take three months to contain”. The Omicron reality, based on all other international experience, is that containment will prove impossible and it will surge through the whole community within three months, and that our health system should be able to cope. Then there will be no epidemic to contain, but Omicron may become endemic like flu. It seems Hong Kong’s pro-establishment politicians and media are vulnerable to the same variant of thought that paralysed life in Xian and other Chinese cities. I.M. Wright, Happy Valley Pointless for non-locals to attend ‘Zoom university’ here This week some universities, including mine, announced measures in response to the current Covid-19 outbreak, including moving classes online. It is true that a caseload of over 100 a day is extremely serious, and would be seen as such on the mainland. I received an email from a lecturer expressing the hope that face-to-face lessons would resume after the Lunar New Year break. This optimistic outlook annoyed me, even though we all hope for the same. My friends and I have been thinking about whether we should go home or stay in Hong Kong. We doubt the current Covid-19 wave can be suppressed in Hong Kong, and our fears grew as three universities announced that some of their students had caught Covid-19. At least one of them attended classes on campus. Some lecturers who teach practical courses admitted that they are struggling with how to teach appropriately. It seems meaningless to stay in Hong Kong to attend “Zoom university”. That’s not what we are here for. Communicating with our lecturers and getting their input on our work after each class is as important as listening carefully to the lectures in class. This helps me understand how Hongkongers approach the topics under study differently than in a mainland class. This is what makes being here worthwhile. I can’t help looking back on the last semester when we had face-to-face lessons and could sit together and discuss our ideas with our classmates, hang out with friends at a bar in Tsim Sha Tsui and enjoy the view of Victoria Harbour. Hong Kong is a blessed place that always overcomes challenges. I hope this can happen soon. Liao Sizhe, Sha Tin