As the coronavirus spreads globally, packed restaurants and handshakes show Hong Kong is getting complacent

While mask wearing is still ubiquitous, more Hongkongers are venturing out to restaurants and social gatherings. Meanwhile, Covid-19 continues to spread and the risk of contracting it is still high

Reading Time:3 minutes

Families cycle and enjoy the outdoors at the main dam of Plover Cove Reservoir in Tai Mei Tuk, Tai Po, on February 22. Scenic areas in the city are filling up as residents seek room to breathe in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 7:00am, 10 Mar 2020Updated: 7:14am, 10 Mar 2020

Hong Kong has always been ahead of the curve on the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. Our city recorded its first case of the disease on January 23, becoming the third place outside mainland China – following Macau and Taiwan – to report a confirmed case. Hongkongers were in the vanguard of panic buying face masks, hand sanitiser, gloves and daily necessities.

We’ve been working from home, schools have been closed for weeks, entertainment and sports events have been cancelled and warnings about the risk of infection from social gatherings have long been ringing in our ears. Familiarity has set in, but we are also trapped in our shoebox flats and longing for social interaction, leading to our city becoming complacent just as the rest of the world is getting worried.

I live in North Point, one of the worst-affected districts. A Buddhist temple a mere three-minutes’ walk from my door has been the site of at least 18 of the city’s confirmed cases. One of those who tested positive for the virus worked at a nearby KFC. Seven members of a family came down with the disease after eating at a dim sum restaurant not far away.

Some people in the block I live in are under home quarantine. A number of restaurants in the area have closed temporarily due to the lack of customers; one has shut down for good.

But while the streets have, for two months, been akin to those of a ghost town, life is fast returning to normal. One restaurant I occasionally go to is again packed at lunchtime with workers from nearby offices. Coffee shops are doing a brisk trade before and after office hours.

A woman wearing a face mask waits in a coffee shop in Causeway Bay on March 3. Photo: Martin Chan