Hong Kong Finally Goes Maskless

Some people continued wearing masks out of caution today

After some 950 days, the mask mandate was FINALLY lifted in Hong Kong much to the delight of the residents who have endured wearing face coverings in over 30-degree weather, while exercising, while at weddings, funerals, amusement parks.

And dealing with the fear or harassment of the police gleefully handing out HK$5,000 fines to people who weren't wearing them properly or were caught smoking.

But in reality many today still wore a mask going to work or school, unable to shake the routine, or still wanted to err on the side of caution.

Why not get rid of masks with campaign launch?

The fact that Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu suddenly announced the end of wearing masks just days before March 1 shows how the government didn't think things through -- why not have masks off for the start of the "Hello Hong Kong" campaign? Surely that would have been even more effective in enticing people to come back to the city? 

Even health experts were frustrated that there was no more science to justify having to wear masks outside in particular. Then suddenly poof! Masks are allowed off and people are reticent to do so.

Young children have been hit hardest by the mask mandate. They have been forced to wear face coverings that were unnatural to them (and could not understand why), but now they are so used to wearing them that it will take a while to get them to feel more comfortable to take them off.

Children will take time to adjust to no masks

Educators are concerned these young children have had their learning hampered by mask-wearing for three years. Pupils are unable to pronounce words properly as they cannot see their teachers' mouth movements and imitate them.

The pandemic may have also changed how people interact with others from handshakes to hygiene habits. In Canada it seems the handshake is pretty much back, though some are still anxious about reaching for someone's hand, others grateful to have human contact again.

In the meantime Hong Kong may see a spike in Covid-19 cases now that masks are officially off, but most of the population has herd immunity from vaccinations or from infections. 

What other momentous occasion happened today? The closing of Penny's Bay Community Isolation Facility!

It was opened by the Security Bureau, which made it apt that Undersecretary for Security Michael Cheuk Hau-yip "closed" the massive facility with a symbolic "lock" made of cardboard.

Cheuk with the "lock" on Penny's Bay

What is going to happen to all those shipping containers converted into mini cells for people who had mild symptoms or were close contacts of infected patients and had to wait it out here?

Is this place going to be yet another white elephant left to collect dust? There were talks of possibly making them into low-cost housing, but in terms of logistics it would be a no-go. What a waste of taxpayer money to build these facilities that were not really used but built to show Hong Kong's determination to fight the virus...