COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong

The COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Hong Kong on 23 January 2020.^[2] Confirmed cases were generally transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital's Infectious Disease Centre for isolation and centralised treatment. On 5 February, after a five-day strike by front-line medical workers, the Hong Kong government closed all but three border control points including Hong Kong International Airport, Shenzhen Bay Control Point, and Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge Control Point remaining open.

Hong Kong was relatively unscathed by the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak and had a flatter epidemic curve than most other places, which observers consider remarkable given its status as an international transport hub. Furthermore, its proximity to China and its millions of mainland visitors annually would make it vulnerable.^[3] Some experts now believe the habit of wearing masks in public since the SARS epidemic of 2003 may have helped keep its confirmed infections at 845, with four deaths, by the beginning of April.^[3] In a study published in April 2020 in the Lancet, the authors expressed their belief that border restrictions, quarantine and isolation, social distancing, and behavioural changes such as wearing masks likely all played a part in the containment of the disease up to the end of March.^[4] Others attributed the success to critical thinking of citizens who have become accustomed to distrusting the competence and political motivations of the government, the World Health Organization, and the Chinese Communist Party.^[5]

After a much smaller second wave in late March and April 2020 caused by overseas returnees rushing to beat mandatory quarantine,^[6] Hong Kong saw a substantial uptick in COVID cases in July, with more than a hundred cases being reported several days in a row until early August. Experts attributed this third wave to imported cases – sea crew, aircrew members, and domestic helpers made up the majority of 3rd wave infections.^[7] In late November 2020 the city entered a fourth wave, called "severe" by Chief Executive Carrie Lam. The initial driver behind the fourth wave was a group of dance clubs in which wealthy, predominantly female Hong Kongers danced together and had dance lessons with mostly younger male dance instructors.^[8] Measures taken in response included a suspension of school classroom teaching until the end of the year, and an order for restaurants to seat only two persons per table and close at 10:00 p.m. taking effect on 2 December;^[9] a further tightening of restrictions saw, among other measures, a 6 pm closing time of restaurants starting from 10 December, and a mandate for authorities to order partial lockdowns in locations with multiple cases of COVID-19 until all residents were tested.^[10] From late January 2021, the government pursued repeatedly locked down residential buildings to conduct mass testing. A free mass vaccination program with the Sinovac vaccine and Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine was launched on 26 February. The government sought to counter the vaccine hesitancy by material incentives, which led to an acceleration of vaccinations in June.^[11]

Hong Kong was one of few countries and territories to pursue a "zero-COVID" elimination strategy, by essentially closing all its borders and, until February 2022, subjecting even mild and asymptomatic cases to hospitalisation, and sometimes isolation extending over several weeks. The fifth, Omicron variant driven wave of the pandemic emerging in late December 2021^[12] caused the health system to be stretched to its limits, the mandatory hospitalization to be abandoned,^[13] and led several experts to question the zero-COVID strategy. Some even considered it counterproductive, due to it having nourished hopes that the city would eventually become free of the virus, and thus having led to a low COVID-19 vaccination rate in the city.^[14] Most of the deaths in the fifth wave were among the unvaccinated elderly.^[15]

Background[edit]

The outbreak of the pandemic evoked memories as the city was at the forefront of the SARS epidemic in 2003, when over 1,700 people contracted the virus and almost 300 people died locally. The COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan took place against the backdrop of widespread and intense political conflict and civil unrest fed by anti-government sentiment, since June 2019.^[16][17] Carrie Lam, the city's Chief Executive, was reported in May 2020 to have a negative approval rating of 80 percent.^[5] The District Council elections in November, widely regarded as a proxy referendum over the protest movement's demands,^[18] saw the pro-democracy camp achieve their biggest landslide victory in Hong Kong's history, where they took control of 17 out of 18 districts.^[18][19] The economy of the city has been reeling under the effects of the unrest, as the number of mainland visitors fell and business confidence suffered, and the city slipped into recession.^[20]

Lam had invoked the Emergency Regulations Ordinance on 4 October 2019 to impose a law to ban wearing face masks in public gatherings.^[21][22] The law would come to contradict later measures to control the spread of the virus,^[23] and has been widely ignored by citizens, who have learnt to be mistrustful of the government.^[5]

As the coronavirus crisis escalated in February and March 2020, the scale of the protests dwindled.^[24] Protest activities continued regularly in Tseung Kwan O, Yuen Long and Mong Kok every month.^[25][26][27] Large-scale protests gave way to the COVID-19 pandemic,^[28] but smaller scale protests in various districts resumed upon easing of virus restrictions. Through its Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance, the Hong Kong government imposed a four-person limit for public gatherings.^[29] Many observers believed that the COVID-19 pandemic had provided cover for an increase of arrests related to the protests.^[30]

Timeline[edit]