A Divided Hong Kong Confronts the Arrival of the Coronavirus

Hong Kong protesters have mutated into a marauding mob who would use any excuse for destruction. This is the time they - all the people in Hong Kong - should pull together. Alas, this is not what happened in history. During the civil war, the KMT would rather fight the communists than the Japanese. Readers should read X'ian Incident. So, history has repeated again, albeit in much smaller scale.

The photo neatly encapsulates what the Hong Kong rioters are really about. Nothing screams “democracy” more than firebombing attempts to fight an epidemic sweeping the country. That’s what happens when you let foreign-funded shadow groups take over your city.

This coronavirus is going to be a serious world health issue for one reason: money. There are huge trade deals between U.S. and China companies and this requires travel. China isn't going to incubate the whole country at the cost of its economy, so trade will continue and the virus will spread. The stock market went crazy yesterday because investors don't like uncertainty and a worldwide virus would affect sales of many products, thus people's investments. Trump certainly isn't concerned about the health and safety of American citizens, even though it could affect the economy and his reelection prospects.

I thought they made face masks illegal during the rioting....but seriously folks, that mask will not protect you or others. I you have a better plan.

The ports of entry that will be closed only accounts for 8% of people entering Hong Kong from China!

I am not sure of a good analogy to emphasise the significance of these measures : New Jersey blocking road, rail and sea crossings from New York City? Up to 1978 the (largely abandoned) duck farms and marshlands of the northern New Territories of Hong Kong extended geographically into a primitively agricultural Shenzen across a barely used border. Some years later look northwards from the expressway circling the New Territories and it is an almost instant cityscape akin to downtown Manhattan.

It is a clash between epidemiology and ideology. Even in authoritarian regimes like China, near total control of society results in the implementation of controversial public health policies are big double edged swords because of the harm they are causing along side putative benefits. China and Hong Kong need more solid epidemiological science beyond example setting by wearing masks.

If Democracy is so important and HK democracy advocates are willing to die for, this is time to show the courage that they are not afraid by keep on demonstrating until HK is free.

The stock market is reacting. Most countries, if not yet mounting an offense, are aware of what’s coming, and trying to get ready. In the USA, the cable channels are consumed with the competency of a President who has not had one word to day to his country about the possibility of a plague. We must remember he doesn’t believe in science or care about us. Trump cares about Trump and only Trump.

1 more prong in what I would advocate as a multi pronged approach to stem the tide of spread of Wuhan Corona Virus (WCV). The economies of PRC and HK will be hurt but anything in the interest of global public health is better than just panic. Right now with no vaccine and no proven antiviral against WCV, I think the race to beat the march of the virus across countries and continents has to be won by all means possible including quarantines and stopping the flow of travelers across national boundaries. There are reports that some persons who may not have had any known contacts with infected persons were found to be positive, presumably not false positive. A slight high temperature as a gold standard for grounds for quarantine or isolation may not be adequate to say that the person is infected with WCV. A quick sensitive and specific diagnostic assay should be widely distributed. I remember crossing across the HK- China border twice by road in the last 2 decades. During my last visit when temperature monitors by border personnel were intimidating for what they would have done to me if I was found with high temperature. I popped a Tylenol pill an hour before the border crossing, just in case a temperature gun shot a beam that mistakenly detected some temperature abnormality different from what they were trying to stop me from crossing the border. All needs to be done to enable infected or exposed persons win their race against rapidly spreading WCV in their lung tissue.

These epidemics are really scary-- especially those that are brand new, meaning we have little to no natural immunity to them. I think it's completely reasonable during an outbreak to limit travel and to work toward containment. Our immune systems were not created for this extraordinarily global world we live in. See: getting sick after taking an airplane flight. We have immunity to the pathogens in our immediate area-- not to everything. We need to adapt our world again for this new moment where, as scientists will tell you, such diseases are only going to arise more often, be more severe, and spread more quickly.

Containment: quarantine, isolation, travel bans: that is what works in stopping the spread of highly-contagious, deadly viruses. Containment is not just the best way: it is the only way.