The latest from HKFP on the battle against the coronavirus pandemic in Hong Kong.
LATEST NEWS & VIEWS
Covid-19: Hong Kong’s epidemic has ended, gov’t advisor says
Hong Kong’s Covid-19 epidemic has ended, a government advisor has said, adding that there was “no need to worry” even in the event of a rebound. Ivan Hung, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the University of Hong Kong’s medical faculty, said in an interview with RTHK published on Monday that the population…
Covid-19: Hong Kong man sentenced to 7.5 months for exposing others to infection risks
A Hong Kong man has been sentenced to 7.5 months behind bars, after he was found guilty of exposing other people to the risk of contracting Covid-19 by visiting restaurants and other public premises while he was infected. Magistrate Li Chi-ho on Thursday jailed Paul Lui Po-lam for seven months and 15 days, after he…
HKFP COVID-19 GUIDES
COVID-19 FEATURES
‘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…
‘The frontline in our homes’: Covid-19’s lasting impact on Hong Kong’s migrant domestic workers
While they are the backbone of many Hong Kong families, issues faced by migrant domestic workers often go under the radar in the city, with many turning to their own communities for support in the absence of official assistance. But during the Covid-19 pandemic, those issues rose the surface as the city faced unprecedented challenges…
Explainer: Hong Kong’s tourism sector faces long road to recovery despite easing of Covid curbs
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Lunar New Year was a busy period for Hong Kong’s tourism industry, when visitors from mainland China would take advantage of the long break to travel to the city. Scenes of busy border control points have been absent for the past three years as Hong Kong remained largely isolated under…
Young business owners in Hong Kong border town brace for rising rents amid resumption of mainland Chinese travel
With its HK$35 lattes and a playlist of indie Taiwanese bands on loop, Dannis Yeung’s cafe seems a little out of place in the northern Hong Kong border town of Sheung Shui. “I don’t have much competition,” Yeung told HKFP. “There’s only one other cafe nearby, but it’s further out [near the residential area].” The…
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS
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…
With Hong Kong’s government immune to criticism, a Covid public inquiry stands no chance
Like many English people I have a weakness for underdogs and lost causes. Hereward the Wake against the Normans, Bonnie Prince Charlie against the Duke of Cumberland, John Henry and the steam hammer, the Alamo… Show us a loser and we love him. But there are limits. Asking, as some people have done recently, for…
Can Hong Kong’s ‘patriots-only’ legislature hold itself to account?
Our constitutional structure requires that the chief executive be accountable to the Legislative Council (LegCo). This presumes that LegCo has sufficient autonomy to hold the chief executive and the Hong Kong government to account. Since authorities introduced our new “patriots-only” political system, we have yet to test this assumption. Can LegCo mount credible, transparent, and…