updates<\/em><\/li>\r\n \t\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\nDespite this, the perception in Hong Kong is that its coronavirus figures are too high, with even more anger at a government already under fire amid last year\u2019s protests about the region\u2019s independence from China.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for giving us this good comment that Hong Kong coronavirus cases and deaths are low,\u201d Dr Pierre Chan, a leading medical doctor and lawmaker, told Yahoo News UK. \u201cBut in Hong Kong, we don\u2019t think so. We don\u2019t think we are doing good.\u201d<\/p>\n
He does, however, concede: \u201cWhen compared with other countries, we are not bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Chan, a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, explains how Hong Kong has kept its cases and deaths relatively low \u2013 but warns dangers still lie ahead.<\/p>\n
Citizen action<\/h3>\n
\u201cWhen there is something wrong in China,\u201d Dr Chan says, \u201cHong Kong is in danger. We are all scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Therefore, at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, the people of Hong Kong were ready to take matters into their own hands.<\/p>\n
Dr Chan explains: \u201cBecause we had a very painful experience with SARS in 2003, most of our citizens are very alert about these things. Whenever there is something wrong, we prepare ourselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cA survey found more than 97% of Hong Kong people use face masks to prevent themselves from droplets and the infection.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do it ourselves, no matter what the government says. In January, when the government said there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission, no one listened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government also made no recommendation for face masks, [yet] 97% of our citizens wear face masks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Healthcare readiness<\/h3>\n
Again, because of SARS 17 years ago, Hong Kong\u2019s healthcare system has been in a stronger position than other countries to react to COVID-19 in 2020.<\/p>\n
Dr Chan, pointing out four doctors died during the SARS outbreak, says: \u201cWe have sky-high alertness for ourselves and patients.<\/p>\n
With coronavirus testing, in Hong Kong there are almost no restrictions. This is very important. We still have some criteria but it is not difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still have rooms for isolation facilities. Whenever a patient has a confirmed or highly suspected case of coronavirus, all of them will be accommodated in a proper isolation ward.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of SARS, we have trained 100 doctors specialised in infectious diseases or clinical microbiology and infection. In 2020, we have specialists on board.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dangers ahead<\/h3>\n
However, cases have steadily risen in Hong Kong over the past week. Just a week ago, on 24 March, there were 387, compared to the latest figure of 714 on Tuesday. Social distancing measures are now being enforced.<\/p>\n
Dr Chan says: \u201cIn January and February, we were still good. We had some local cases. In March, because of the world pandemic, we have many students and workers coming back from Europe and the UK. We have 20 times more imported cases in one month.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still fighting very hard in Hong Kong because we know we are still facing the threat from outside. Hong Kong is an international city with foreigners coming in and out, as well as mainland people coming to Hong Kong, and Hong Kong people going to the mainland, for work and schooling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Government discontent<\/h3>\n
For such a densely populated place, Hong Kong has relatively few coronavirus cases. But Dr Chan says: \u201cWe are all annoyed at the government.\u201d<\/p>\n
He explains: \u201cIn Hong Kong we should have good [preparation] when there is an epidemic like SARS or coronavirus. Unfortunately, the government has delayed in adopting the recommendations [of a 2004 report into the SARS outbreak about handling future diseases]. That is why, in Hong Kong, we are annoyed and unhappy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith face masks, we were right. With human-to-human transmission, we were right. With border control, the Hong Kong government did not do it until two months later.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government is now asking people to stay home. Medical healthcare workers asked for that two months ago. The government delayed the measures too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UK government was criticised for a perceived delay in introducing its\u00a0draconian measures to restrict the spread of coronavirus.<\/p>\n
Dr Chan, however, concludes: \u201cYour government acted promptly when compared with Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we did it two months before, we could have cut down almost 80% of local transmission cases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Despite its proximity to mainland China, Hong Kong has recorded just 714\u00a0coronavirus\u00a0cases and only four deaths. A major cultural factor behind this is Hong Kong\u2019s experience of the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, in which 299 people died. It meant members of the public and healthcare services remained on high alert for another …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63899,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[38],"tags":[4083],"yoast_head":"\n
Coronavirus: Why there have been so few deaths in Hong Kong - TheFastFashion.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=63898\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Coronavirus: Why there have been so few deaths in Hong Kong - TheFastFashion.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite its proximity to mainland China, Hong Kong has recorded just 714\u00a0coronavirus\u00a0cases and only four deaths. A major cultural factor behind this is Hong Kong\u2019s experience of the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, in which 299 people died. It meant members of the public and healthcare services remained on high alert for another …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=63898\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TheFastFashion.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/buyingforbeauty\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-02T02:29:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/hk-coronavirus.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"704\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"470\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"TheFastFashion\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"TheFastFashion\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=63898\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=63898\",\"name\":\"Coronavirus: Why there have been so few deaths in Hong Kong - TheFastFashion.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-02T02:29:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-02T02:29:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6724c5c91d5889cf040718d048e9c810\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=63898#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=63898\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=63898#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Coronavirus: Why there have been so few deaths in Hong Kong\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/\",\"name\":\"TheFastFashion.com\",\"description\":\"Fashion, Life Style, Beauty, Makeup, Costume...\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6724c5c91d5889cf040718d048e9c810\",\"name\":\"TheFastFashion\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/165dc3997dd8e848f9e4cb8574ab2042?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/165dc3997dd8e848f9e4cb8574ab2042?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"TheFastFashion\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Coronavirus: Why there have been so few deaths in Hong Kong - TheFastFashion.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=63898","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Coronavirus: Why there have been so few deaths in Hong Kong - TheFastFashion.com","og_description":"Despite its proximity to mainland China, Hong Kong has recorded just 714\u00a0coronavirus\u00a0cases and only four deaths. A major cultural factor behind this is Hong Kong\u2019s experience of the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, in which 299 people died. It meant members of the public and healthcare services remained on high alert for another …","og_url":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=63898","og_site_name":"TheFastFashion.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/buyingforbeauty","article_published_time":"2020-04-02T02:29:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":704,"height":470,"url":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/hk-coronavirus.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"TheFastFashion","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"TheFastFashion","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=63898","url":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=63898","name":"Coronavirus: Why there have been so few deaths in Hong Kong - TheFastFashion.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-04-02T02:29:11+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-02T02:29:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6724c5c91d5889cf040718d048e9c810"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=63898#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=63898"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=63898#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Coronavirus: Why there have been so few deaths in Hong Kong"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/","name":"TheFastFashion.com","description":"Fashion, Life Style, Beauty, Makeup, Costume...","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6724c5c91d5889cf040718d048e9c810","name":"TheFastFashion","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/165dc3997dd8e848f9e4cb8574ab2042?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/165dc3997dd8e848f9e4cb8574ab2042?s=96&r=g","caption":"TheFastFashion"},"url":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63898"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63900,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63898\/revisions\/63900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/63899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}