Hong Kong swallowed ‘bitter medicine’ because of its complacency with Covid-19

Just a week ago, Hong Kong was still seen as Asia’s model in the fight against Covid-19, recording a relatively low number of infections after months of coping with the pandemic.

That success is largely due to the special zone government’s early and drastic action.

Hong Kong has proven to the world that these measures are very effective in the fight against Covid-19.

Hong Kong people wearing masks walk on the streets of Queen’s Road on March 20.

However, Hong Kong is now showing the world a very different lesson: what happens if you let down your guard too early against Covid-19.

The number of people infected with nCoV in the special zone last week almost doubled, of which the majority were `imported` infections, people who went abroad to study and work, or sought safety when the city was hit.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced on March 23 that all non-residents of the city will be banned from entering the country from March 25.

Not only Hong Kong, places that are considered to have `passed the peak of the epidemic` such as mainland China, Singapore and Taiwan are also witnessing a wave of `foreign imports` of nCoV.

Compared to major Western cities like London or New York, people in Hong Kong can sometimes feel like they are living in the future.

However, Hong Kong’s new lesson is like a bitter pill to swallow, because it shows that quarantine and social distancing measures must continue after the first outbreak, if we don’t want to suffer another outbreak.

On March 2, after several weeks of remote working, most of Hong Kong’s 180,000 civil servants returned to work.

This seemed like a reasonable decision at the time.

In that context, everyone feels more comfortable, not only because they can continue to go to work instead of staying at home, but they can also gather to eat, go to the park, attend weddings and many other collective activities.

The following week after everyone returned to work, only five new cases were detected, most of them `imported`.

City health officials soon realized that quarantine measures for people returning from abroad were not enough and nCoV infection in the community reappeared.

Since then, the city has raced to control the second outbreak, with new containment measures introduced, including putting electronic bracelets on all new arrivals, forcing them to self-isolate for 14 months.

Since March 23, civil servants continue to work from home, while many private businesses plan to apply similar measures.

All foreign visitors are banned from entering the special zone from March 25.

Passengers wearing protective gear at Hong Kong airport on March 18.

During a press conference on March 21, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said that the city has so far overcome two outbreaks effectively and safely.

`The first outbreak was a risk of infection from mainland China and we have put in place strict control measures. The second outbreak was a local transmission, with clusters arising from

Lam said it is natural for people to feel comfortable when the number of new infections declines as they did in early March.

On March 22, Singapore also imposed an indefinite ban on entry and transit for all short-term passengers, as the island nation also had a headache dealing with `imported` nCov infections and the outbreak.

The island of Taiwan was also successful in controlling the first Covid-19 outbreak and is implementing many new measures to avoid a surge in imported infections.

CNN editor James Griffiths believes that Asia has been weeks, if not months, ahead of the West in the fight with Covid-19.