Editorial | Death of Hong Kong girl, 3, serves as a tragic reminder amid coronavirus pandemic
- Social media has found a poignant human face of the Covid-19 heartbreak sweeping the city and it calls on us to come together to beat the crisis
Life under the pandemic tends to be influenced by the latest numbers – for infections, quarantine, vaccinations and so on.
Hongkongers find themselves being pushed and pulled, one way and then the other, in a reflection of statistics. The authorities urge them to pull together to defeat the virus, and then prise them apart with tougher social-distancing rules when the numbers get worse.
The numbers are, unfortunately, an impersonal arbiter of the next step forward or backwards. They don’t picture the personal anxiety, suffering and loss associated with the pandemic.
Very sadly, social media has found a poignant human face of the Covid-19 tragedy – a three-year-old girl who died three days after being admitted to hospital. The news sparked an outpouring of personal and emotional condolences for her family.
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Hong Kong hospitals set up outdoor wards as city buckles under rising coronavirus infections
Officially the death is Covid-related rather than attributed solely to the virus, though the girl reportedly had no underlying illnesses. But it serves as an outlet for pent-up public emotion and frustration as the pandemic enters its third year with no end in sight.