My Take | Ditching the masks should give Hong Kong more room to breathe
- Let us hope their removal will have a broader meaning, ushering in a time when people can be seen smiling and are able to speak freely
Hong Kong residents dreamed of the day they would no longer have to wear masks in public, but feared it would never dawn. There was relief when the requirement was lifted last week, after two years and seven months during which masks appeared to be permanently attached to people’s faces.
The move effectively marks the end of the city’s measures to combat the pandemic, which have been among the strictest and longest lasting in the world. But it will take time for the city to adapt to the idea of not wearing masks. Most residents have continued to mask-up when stepping out in the days since the rule was removed.
Masks were widely worn long before the requirement was imposed on July 28, 2020. Almost everyone was doing so at the time of the Wuhan outbreak, before Hong Kong had even recorded its first case of Covid-19. People didn’t need to be told to wear masks or that they helped guard against infection.
At the time the requirement was introduced, most parts of the world were imposing various rules on masks. Even Donald Trump, famous for resisting and apparently mocking them, wore one in public earlier that month. But we didn’t think the pandemic would last so long.
The mask mandate allowed for very few exceptions. Children under two-years-old were exempt. People who breached the rule faced a HK$5,000 (US$637) fine, unless they could show they had a reasonable excuse for doing so.
Exercise was not exempted. That ridiculous rule, conflicting with World Health Organization advice, was quickly lifted but reintroduced for a period last year when cases began to soar. May Hong Kong never again force people to go running or play team sports while trying to breathe through a mask.