Coronavirus: Hongkongers flock to barbecue pits at reservoir for fresh air and fun as city grinds to a halt, but how safe is it?
- Scenic area in Tai Po gets a flurry of activity even on a weekday, with schools closed and employees skirting around work-from-home rules
- Expert advises caution as droplet transmission can still happen among groups
At the scenic Plover Cove Reservoir in Tai Po, crowds of Hongkongers, from children to the elderly, gather around barbecue pits, at restaurants and along cycling tracks. To the unfamiliar, it would seem like any normal weekend, except that the city remains in the grip of the deadly coronavirus epidemic.
Many visitors arrive in groups, without masks, as a long line of cars are parked illegally along a two-lane road in the area.
The flurry of activity, on a Friday no less – because school and work events in the city have been cancelled and some employees are taking advantage of work-from-home arrangements – has sparked concern among villagers, fearing infection risks from the merrymakers.
“It is understandable visitors come for fresh air, and we have seen numbers surge three- or fourfold in the past two weeks. It is like a market,” says Cheung Kwok-wah, a representative of the nearby Lung Mei Village. “We are concerned about traffic jams, which have caused villagers trouble in getting home or going out, and about the used surgical masks littered around.”
As of Saturday morning, Hong Kong had recorded 69 cases of Covid-19, with two related fatalities. Globally, the number of infections rose to more than 76,700, mostly in mainland China, while the death toll stood at more than 2,200.