Opinion | Hong Kong needs zero-COVID, the West doesn't understand why
By Tom Fowdy
Hong Kong is facing its most severe wave of COVID yet. Struck with the highly prolific Omicron variant, the Chinese city has recorded since the beginning of this year 54,000 cases and 145 deaths. Some models from the University of Hong Kong have estimated that daily numbers could soon reach 180,000 a day. In response, city leader Carrie Lam has ordered the entire 7.5 million population of the special administrative region to be tested at least three times by March, and a city-wide lockdown has also been contemplated. The approach marks a differentiation to those seen in the western world whereby COVID restrictions have been absconded altogether, such as England even dumping the legal mandate to isolate when testing positive last week.
This has prompted criticism from the mainstream media claiming that the city is following the (highly successful) approach of the mainland which has also involved all of population testing regimes in affected areas, encompassing cities far larger in population than Hong Kong. But to make a political argument out of this is wrong: The West doesn't understand Hong Kong's long-term standard and strategy of excellent in combatting diseases, one as to which has been deeply embedded in its history and geography. This isn't a question of political allegiance; it is a matter of common sense.
Understanding HK from a geographical and historical perspective
Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places on Earth. As a series of scattered peninsulas and islands with heavily elevated terrain, the city sees a huge population packed into a vastly limited space which has led to its iconic scenery of mass skyscrapers. This gives the SAR a population density of 6,300 people per square kilometer, which in practice is more given how much of its terrain is open mountain land. This leads to an average house price of US$1,990 per square foot, the single most expensive real estate market on Earth.
On this human geography, it becomes subsequently very easy for diseases to spread in Hong Kong. Westerners who live in the city may experience culture shock owing to the lack of personal space one is used to back home (myself having experienced this). This means virus outbreaks have more potential than they would in sparsely populated places. This consideration is added to the historical perspective of the city being an important trading port in the colonial era, with diseases being carried in and out by ships. This means Hong Kong has been more historically exposed to outbreaks than other parts of the world.
All of these combined have created a healthcare institutionalization in the city which has lacked the privilege and comfort of the West, establishing a vigilant, maximalist and urgent system. Recent experiences such as the SARS epidemic has also shaped this understanding. Even prior to the pandemic, one's experience in Hong Kong finds that the population remains naturally vigilant, with some optionally donning masks. Once I sneezed into my hands on the airport express train. An old lady who was sitting next to me, swiftly moved to sit next to somewhere else. Hong Kong takes disease seriously, and has no understanding of the negligent, selfish and "let it be" approach of the West.
Necessary Action
As a result, the city's zero-COVID policy is not going to change in the future. A comprehensive population-wide testing regime has been a hugely successful policy in the mainland which has contained the virus despite the astronomical difficulties of having 1.4 billion people. It might be added that Hong Kong has an advanced aging population which is rendered much more vulnerable to the implications of a mass COVID outbreak, with 18.9% of the population (almost a fifth) being over 65 years of age. It is criminal not to act.
Whilst the West may ignore "live with COVID" as famously proclaimed by Boris Johnson, this never ever equated to doing nothing or simply pretending the pandemic does not exist. The West's decision to prioritize economic gains over human life is populist, opportunist and morally wrong. Hong Kong is right to take decisive and prudent actions and cement its place in being a global leader in fighting the pandemic, as it has always done throughout its history.
The author is a well-seasoned writer and analyst with a large portfolio related to China topics, especially in the field of politics, international relations and more. He graduated with an Msc. in Chinese Studies from Oxford University in 2018.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
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