The latest from HKFP on the battle against the coronavirus pandemic in Hong Kong.
LATEST NEWS & VIEWS
Hong Kong lowers ’emergency’ response level for Covid-19
Hong Kong has lowered its “emergency” response level for Covid-19 to “alert,” more than three years after the pandemic began. The government said it had considered the advice of World Health Organization (WHO), which said that Covid-19 no longer constituted a public health emergency of international concern, according to the statement issued on Tuesday. Under…
Combatting ‘job-hopping’ isn’t the solution, solidarity with Hong Kong’s migrant domestic workers is
By Lydia Catedral I had a baby in Hong Kong in 2021, which highlighted for me how important caregiving support is – especially in a pandemic. In a recent meeting I attended, Assistant Commissioner to Labour Cheung Hoi Shan claimed that it was families like mine – those who had babies or seniors in their…
HKFP COVID-19 GUIDES
COVID-19 FEATURES
Dealing with death: Young Hongkonger shares lessons from an unusual career choice
It’s not the career choice for many in their twenties, but Ming Tai has amassed more than 47,000 followers on his Instagram page, where he shares stories from his work in the funeral industry. While a lot of people might be taken aback at the prospect of working with corpses, it did not take Ming…
Explainer: Why Hong Kong is constitutionally obliged to balance the books
Hong Kong has long been renowned for its huge fiscal reserves and prudence in public spending. Ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic, in January 2020, the government had nearly HK$1.2 trillion in fiscal reserves, the equivalent of 22 months of public expenditure. It had recorded 15 years of budget surpluses before the economy was hit by…
As masks come off, Hong Kong children may struggle to face the world
As a kindergarten principal in Hong Kong, Reann Lau was used to seeing children’s smiles when they laughed, and their pouts in moments of sulky silence. But the last time she walked into a classroom full of facial expressions was over three years ago, before Covid-19 arrived in the city and residents masked up. Before…
‘I can finally breathe’: Some celebrate the end of Hong Kong’s Covid mask rule, but most remain cautious
Hong Kong’s Covid-19 mask mandate – in place for almost 1,000 days – was officially scrapped on Wednesday. And although some were glad to leave home without their face coverings, most people continued to wear masks. Inside the Smithfield Market in Kennedy Town, an HKFP reporter observed around one in 10 grocery shoppers were not…
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS
Hong Kong has a labour shortage? At what price?
During what I now think of as a fallow period between university and journalism I lived in Lancaster, and several of my fellow drop-outs worked at the docks in the nearby town of Heysham The port at Heysham is very small, and in those days still worked on a recruitment system which the big docks…
Hong Kong’s freedom to protest comes back to life… or does it?
Article 27 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR states that: “Hong Kong residents shall have freedom of speech, of the press and of publication; freedom of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration; and the right and freedom to form and join trade unions, and to strike.” Some of these freedoms…
When can Hongkongers stop wearing masks?
This is a question that keeps cropping up in Hong Kong, which is currently one of the last places in the world where universal mask wearing in all public settings is compulsory. Universal masking has been one of the most recognisable features of public life in Hong Kong in the last three years. Most other…
Hong Kong’s barefaced future looks gloomy for mask makers
There was a surprise for government-watchers when it was reported that our new bosom buddies in Saudi Arabia had been told there were now no Covid-related restrictions at all in Hong Kong. This was, at best, a rather slippery use of language. We are still required to wear face masks in public and some individuals…
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