Jenny Cheung is a practicing pharmacist residing in Hong Kong. She is currently the President of Hong Kong Pharmacists Union.
Hong Kong, April 3rd, 2020 – Imagine you were isolated at home reading the news every night. The death toll is mounting high. More children lose their parents, more medical staff keeps succumbing to the virus as days go by. The places where infected people are caught with the virus are getting closer and closer to your home. The feeling of facing death is real and your anxiety level is building up fast.
This was what most of us from Hong Kong have gone through during the SARS outbreak in 2003. The memory is still as fresh as it’s painful. Hundreds of our fellow citizens had unfortunately succumbed and lost their lives to SARS. Some others are still suffering from the physical and mental damages brought by the SARS virus.
Now it feels like we are facing the same battle again, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Yet, we are trying to learn from our past experience to minimize damages.
«Bear in mind, every pandemic is a consequence of politics».
From the medical standpoint, if massive testing and sensitive surveillance program are carried out, alongside with implementation of rigorous control and preventive strategies, it is likely that the spread of the disease would be kept to minimal and mitigation would come around the corner.
However, in some Asian societies, people have learned long ago that they should never take those measures for granted.
Up until late February 2020, WHO officials said it is too early to declare this novel coronavirus – as a global pandemic. Yet there were Asian societies took the preventive measures before everything collapsed.
Taiwan suspended flights from China in late January, despite WHO’s advising against it. South Korea soon followed. South Korea implemented massive test-and-trace program.
However, Hong Kong is not that fortunate. Hong Kong has not imposed travel ban on all visitors from mainland China. No strict quarantine measures. The regime told citizens to wear masks only when symptoms appear. The government shared their surgical masks only with some selected civil servants but not ordinary citizens. All of a sudden Hong Kong ran out of face masks.
During the worst times, Hong Kong people had to camped out overnight in a cold night, just to buy a few boxes of surgical face masks when the shops opened in the following morning. Besides snapping up alcohol hand rubs, people stock up necessities like rice, luncheon and toilet rolls, as well as antiseptic alcohol and bleach.
Yet, despite living next to and having close ties with China, out of nearly 8 million people, Hong Kong have around 700 confirmed cases and 4 deaths so far, by the day of 30th March 2020.
This is because we Hong Kong people have deep memories from the outbreak of SARS 17 years ago. We stay in high vigilance against the coronavirus. No one trust and no one wait for the bureaucracy and politicians for instructions. As politicians may have their own agendas and downplay the threat of the pandemic. We’ve learnt our lives maybe not their priority. Instead, we, the citizens, roll our sleeves up and do our part.
Here is what we do during a day:
1- Wear masks
2- Wash our hands constantly
– with soap and clean water for 20 seconds.
– several times a day.
– when there’s no water, rub hands with hand sanitizer.
3- Stay at home
– avoid gatherings. if possible, all of them
– work from home if possible
– avoid kissing and hugging
4- Personal hygiene
– shower everyday
– rinse the throat everyday
– do not share towel with other family members- wash clothes frequently, wear clean clothes everyday.
– clean smartphones, door knob, handbags, shoes, furnitures, floor, etc.
All we want to do is to contain the virus and minimize the spread as much as possible within our means. We exert huge community effort in Hong Kong to contain the number of confirmed cases and fatalities. With our territorial and political disadvantage, we will never dare slack off a bit till the pandemic is officially put to an end, especially as Wuhan will be reopened in a few days, in April.
As we pay attention to the latest situation of the pandemic across the globe, we notice that the spur of the number of confirmed cases is high in Ecuador. As I compared the spur of cases in Ecuador with other countries, the severity of the situation is visible. The image of early days in Italy or Spain lingers on my mind. The red light is on, my dear Ecuadorians. You are only days beyond.
Fasten the seat belt before you approach a cliff, Ecuadorians. Imagine you are a football player playing in a football match. Your goal is to score to win. This is not a one-man game; this is a battle for survival as a team. Think of your family, friends or loved ones. You do it for them. You do it for the whole team. Your team win, you win.
The clock is ticking. Seize the chance now, as if you have only one chance to play the match, the match of your life, and you have only one chance to score in this entire game, regardless you are not even in half-time, you have to win. Make it to the fullest, you have done it before, probably not with the same opponent; but with one as tough as this for sure.
Wear masks, washing hands, keep a distance from anyone you know.
Share the methods of pandemic prevention with everyone.
You can do it, together Ecuadorians, let’s defeat the Coronavirus and bring the victory home.
¡Sí se Puede!
Jenny Cheung is a practicing pharmacist based in Hong Kong. She witnessed the change of Hong Kong in the past 20 years, since the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from Britain to China in 1997. She is one the first local medical professionals to address the concerns and issues of expired tear gas on human body. She is currently the President of Hong Kong Pharmacists Union.