{"id":2780,"date":"2020-05-22T19:18:38","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T19:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=2780"},"modified":"2020-05-22T19:18:38","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T19:18:38","slug":"how-masks-helped-hong-kong-control-the-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=2780","title":{"rendered":"How masks helped Hong Kong control the coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\n“New York City, with a population of about 8.4 million<\/a>, has had over 28,000 coronavirus deaths<\/a> as of May 18. Meanwhile, Hong Kong has officially recorded only four Covid-19 deaths, despite having 7.5 million residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One reason that could help explain the stark disparity: In Hong Kong, nearly everyone wears a face mask in public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If any city in the world was likely to experience the worst effects of the coronavirus, Hong Kong would have been a top candidate<\/a>. The urban area is densely populated and heavily reliant on packed public-transit systems, and it has very few open spaces. Moreover, a high-speed train<\/a> connects Hong Kong to Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus originated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hong Kong, it seemed, was doomed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But almost as soon as the outbreak first began in the city, millions of residents started wearing masks in public. One local told the Los Angeles Times<\/a> that the government didn\u2019t have to say anything before 99 percent of the population put them on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts<\/a> now say widespread mask usage appears to be a major reason, perhaps even the primary one, why the city hasn\u2019t been devastated by the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf not for universal masking once we depart from our home every day, plus hand hygiene, Hong Kong would be like Italy<\/a> long ago,\u201d K.Y. Yuen, a Hong Kong microbiologist advising the government, told the Wall Street Journal<\/a> last month.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Starting last spring, pro-democracy activists<\/a> took to the streets of Hong Kong to protest a set of laws that would give mainland China \u2014 which isn\u2019t supposed to have full control over the city until 2047 \u2014 more power over Hong Kong. To protect themselves from police tear gas and avoid the city-state\u2019s ubiquitous surveillance cameras, millions of protesters donned masks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an effort to quash the movement last October, Hong Kong\u2019s China-backed government banned the wearing of face masks<\/a> in public. The hope was that forcing demonstrators to show their faces would make them stay home instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a few months later, the coronavirus happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the coronavirus first hit the city, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam<\/a> fumbled her response<\/a>, not wearing a mask during a press conference and, eventually, wearing one incorrectly in public. She also asked government employees not to wear masks<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By April, public health experts in Hong Kong<\/a> were calling on the government to not only repeal the mask ban but also to mandate the wearing of masks in public as a means of curbing the coronavirus\u2019s spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 But by then, almost everyone was already wearing them, ban be damned. Indeed, the fact that the government seemed to advocate against masks may have helped make them more popular. Almost in protest, residents started wearing masks in large numbers and helping the most vulnerable communities obtain them<\/a>.”
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The city has faced pandemics before, including the 1968 flu<\/a>, which began in Hong Kong and killed about 1 million people<\/a> worldwide. When SARS<\/a> came to Hong Kong from mainland China in 2003, residents took it seriously and nearly everyone wore a mask. Partly as a result, the city lost only 300 people<\/a> during that crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts say that instilled a sense among the people of Hong Kong that masks are vital to thwarting a pandemic. That sense was reignited when the coronavirus hit. Now they\u2019re everywhere.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Despite Hong Kong\u2019s mask ban officially remaining in place, some of the government\u2019s health officials<\/a> now praise the citizenry for organically putting the coverings on without being told to do so.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It\u2019s worth noting that Hong Kong also implemented a strong testing, tracing, and isolation program<\/a>, in addition to strengthening travel rules and closing bar<\/a>s<\/a> at the end of March. Those moves, perhaps just as much as masks, have helped keep Hong Kong\u2019s coronavirus death toll low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the masks, research shows, are still very important.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2020\/5\/18\/21262273\/coronavirus-hong-kong-masks-deaths-new-york<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“New York City, with a population of about 8.4 million, has had over 28,000 coronavirus deaths as of May 18. Meanwhile, Hong Kong has officially recorded only four Covid-19 deaths, despite having 7.5 million residents.
\nOne reason that could help explain the stark disparity: In Hong Kong, nearly everyone wears a face mask in public.<\/p>\n

If any city in the world was likely to experience the worst effects of the coronavirus, Hong Kong would have been a top candidate. The urban area is densely populated and heavily reliant on packed public-transit systems, and it has very few open spaces. Moreover, a high-speed train connects Hong Kong to Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus originated.<\/p>\n

Hong Kong, it seemed, was doomed.<\/p>\n

But almost as soon as the outbreak first began in the city, millions of residents started wearing masks in public. One local told the Los Angeles Times that the government didn\u2019t have to say anything before 99 percent of the population put them on.<\/p>\n

Experts now say widespread mask usage appears to be a major reason, perhaps even the primary one, why the city hasn\u2019t been devastated by the disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf not for universal masking once we depart from our home every day, plus hand hygiene, Hong Kong would be like Italy long ago,\u201d K.Y. Yuen, a Hong Kong microbiologist advising the government, told the Wall Street Journal last month.”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“Starting last spring, pro-democracy activists took to the streets of Hong Kong to protest a set of laws that would give mainland China \u2014 which isn\u2019t supposed to have full control over the city until 2047 \u2014 more power over Hong Kong. To protect themselves from police tear gas and avoid the city-state\u2019s ubiquitous surveillance cameras, millions of protesters donned masks.<\/p>\n

In an effort to quash the movement last October, Hong Kong\u2019s China-backed government banned the wearing of face masks in public. The hope was that forcing demonstrators to show their faces would make them stay home instead.<\/p>\n

Just a few months later, the coronavirus happened.<\/p>\n

As the coronavirus first hit the city, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam fumbled her response, not wearing a mask during a press conference and, eventually, wearing one incorrectly in public. She also asked government employees not to wear masks.<\/p>\n

By April, public health experts in Hong Kong were calling on the government to not only repeal the mask ban but also to mandate the wearing of masks in public as a means of curbing the coronavirus\u2019s spread.<\/p>\n

But by then, almost everyone was already wearing them, ban be damned. Indeed, the fact that the government seemed to advocate against masks may have helped make them more popular. Almost in protest, residents started wearing masks in large numbers and helping the most vulnerable communities obtain them.”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“The city has faced pandemics before, including the 1968 flu, which began in Hong Kong and killed about 1 million people worldwide. When SARS came to Hong Kong from mainland China in 2003, residents took it seriously and nearly everyone wore a mask. Partly as a result, the city lost only 300 people during that crisis.<\/p>\n

Experts say that instilled a sense among the people of Hong Kong that masks are vital to thwarting a pandemic. That sense was reignited when the coronavirus hit. Now they\u2019re everywhere.”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“Despite Hong Kong\u2019s mask ban officially remaining in place, some of the government\u2019s health officials now praise the citizenry for organically putting the coverings on without being told to do so.” <\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s worth noting that Hong Kong also implemented a strong testing, tracing, and isolation program, in addition to strengthening travel rules and closing bars at the end of March. Those moves, perhaps just as much as masks, have helped keep Hong Kong\u2019s coronavirus death toll low.<\/p>\n

But the masks, research shows, are still very important.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[588,409,483,581,596,563],"class_list":["post-2780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-share","tag-corona","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-hong-kong","tag-masks","tag-response"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2780"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2781,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2780\/revisions\/2781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}