Home-made masks, a night of mayhem and failed asylum bids: 10 of readers’ top Hong Kong stories from 2020

The city had barely recovered from the social unrest of last year, when the pandemic hit and Beijing moved to rein in activists with the national security law

With thousands of reports, the Post covered the changes and impact on the lives of residents

Reading Time:5 minutes

Anti-government protesters on Nathan Road in Mong Kok on February 29. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 12:00pm, 1 Jan 2021Updated: 1:57pm, 1 Jan 2021

This time last year, residents of Hong Kong were still trying to fathom the unprecedented violence that had been convulsing the city for months. What more could the city endure? Some sort of calm must surely be next.

But the social unrest soon gave way to the first waves of the coronavirus pandemic, which brought economic destruction in its wake. The city’s activists and opposition politicians were put on notice in June when Beijing imposed the sweeping national security law, a step later met with sanctions by several Western governments. With thousands of reports, the Post covered the changes and their impact on the lives of residents. Here are some of readers’ favourite stories from 2020.

1. Taking cover

Masks are ubiquitous now, but in the initial months of the outbreak, many countries were still hesitant to believe the coverings were effective in preventing the spread of Covid-19. The Post broke down the arguments on both sides. “There is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any potential benefit,” said Dr Mike Ryan, the executive director of the World Health Organization’s health emergencies programme.

But others in the medical community were pointing to Hong Kong, where masks have long been commonplace, and up to that point, the spread of the disease had been kept in check. Writing in The Lancet medical journal, top microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung described the case of a seven-year-old girl who travelled with five family members to Wuhan, then the epicentre of the nation’s pandemic. The girl was the only one in the family who did not contract the virus. She had worn masks throughout the trip. The WHO would eventually change its position, and the world came around to the wisdom of wearing masks, even US President Donald Trump.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x