Letters | Hong Kong must accept its Omicron wave will be Lambda-shaped

Readers discuss the Omicron wave pattern, complain about differences in pricing of a rapid antigen test kit, suggest how the MTR can help alleviate the burden of the pandemic on children, and question the mandate for testing instead of vaccinations

Coronavirus Hong Kong

Letters

Published: 11:30am, 4 Mar 2022

Why you can trust SCMP

In every country that Omicron has touched, the wave of infection shoots up and then shoots down, much like the Greek letter Λ for Lambda. It is the same, whether in countries with high vaccination rates, such as Britain, Israel and Denmark, or low vaccination rates, such as Uganda and South Africa, with or without mask mandates, vaccine passports or lockdowns. And this wave lasts largely between six and eight weeks.

So it was strange to see Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee warning us that “we must use the coming two to three months to curb the pandemic with several measures” (“HK to discharge patients faster as caseload soars”, February 27).

Because it’s going to happen anyway, regardless of all the panic and the “several measures” that include extensive lockdowns, mass testing and vaccine passports.

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These measures will only delay the inevitable, which is for Omicron to pass through the population in Hong Kong. It has done so pretty much everywhere else; why should it be any different in Hong Kong? In the meantime, life is returning very much to normal in those countries.

Did Chan make her strange comment so that she can say, when we see the inevitable downward spike in infections, that we have controlled Omicron? Could she be that cynical? One hopes not.

Territory-wide infections may not be the worst outcome. A preprint study from researchers in Israel has concluded that, “natural immunity confers longer lasting and stronger protection against infection, symptomatic disease and hospitalisation” caused by the Delta variant than vaccines alone. For those with hybrid immunity – having been both infected and vaccinated – the protection is even greater. This new analysis should factor into our government’s Covid-19 strategies.

Peter Forsythe, Discovery Bay

Why is Hong Kong-developed test cheaper in Singapore?

As Hong Kong battles its toughest Covid-19 wave, I would like to draw attention to the difference in pricing of the Indicaid rapid test kit in Hong Kong and Singapore.

The rapid antigen test kit, developed by Hong Kong start-up Phase Scientific International, has been endorsed by the Hong Kong government, which is probably its biggest customer to date. It retails for around HK$100-125 (US$12.80-16) per kit in Hong Kong (it is HK$120 per kit on Indicaid’s online site).

In Singapore, however, it has been announced that the Indicaid test kit, recently authorised for use by the Health Sciences Authority, will be priced below S$5 (US$3.70). That is less than HK$30 per test kit; three to four times less than what we have to pay here.

Although the Hong Kong government has plans to distribute rapid antigen test kits to all residents, the available kits are going first to those most in need. The rest of us are forced to scramble and pay out of our pockets for test kits to safeguard ourselves and our loved ones.

Meanwhile, businesses are procuring test kits for their employees just so they can continue to operate. During such times of extreme hardship, with jobs and livelihoods on the line, companies should really consider setting the profit motive aside.

Paweenee Wuttiattapong, Mid-Levels

MTR could make space for students

It is mind-boggling that our schoolchildren’s lives will yet again be disrupted, this time by newly brought forward “summer holidays”. Hong Kong has a disproportionate number of people living in cramped public housing and subdivided flats. This latest disruption will have a long-term impact on our children’s mental and academic development.

Forcing an early summer school break on the kids is reckless

Given that it is uncertain when face-to-face classes at school and public library study rooms will open, perhaps the MTR could lend a helping hand. Some stations have ample underused or dead spaces, such as retail units that have not yet been leased and interchange floor concourses away from high-traffic escalator zones.

Could these spaces be converted into quiet study areas for students living in cramped accommodation? They would provide a safe, ventilated and focused environment for youngsters away from home distractions.

The logistical, monitoring and cost issues should not be insurmountable for a well-run profitable organisation, and would cement its pivotal role in the hearts and minds of all Hongkongers.

Graham Cheung, Tai Wai

Forget testing, focus on vaccination

Does the government not see the incongruity in mandating testing (three times, no less), but resolutely holding back on mandating vaccination?

If our laboratories cannot handle the current volumes of samples submitted, what hope do they have of competently processing 7.4 million samples multiplied by three, in a timely fashion? And if results won’t be available for several days, of what use are they in this highly fluid fifth wave environment?

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Why not spend this fast-closing window of opportunity and limited resources on ensuring that the remaining population is fully vaccinated? Vaccination, after all, is universally accepted as the most effective shield against Covid-19. It’s almost certain that other variants will follow Omicron. All efforts really ought to be a bit more farsighted, and not just a Band-Aid approach.

Further, I question the prudence of forcing large crowds into long queues when Omicron is known to be highly transmissible – is this not creating unnecessarily fertile ground for further spreading the virus?

I suggested these last year, but let me suggest them again:

Link the consumption voucher handout to vaccinations. No jab, no voucher; one jab, one voucher; two jabs, two vouchers; three jabs, three vouchers.

And make renewal of all work visas conditional upon full vaccination.

L. Chang, Causeway Bay