Dr Yuen Warns of Another Impending Pandemic

Yuen warns world leaders must fight infectious diseases

We are still going through waves of the Covid-19 virus and Hong Kong microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung warns we will inevitably encounter yet another pandemic that will be even worse, he outlines in his latest autobiography.

"Both the public and [world] leaders must admit that another pandemic will come, and probably sooner than you anticipate," he said in an interview.

Yuen has released an autobiography of his career

"Why I make such a horrifying prediction is because you can see clearly that the geopolitical, economic, and climatic changes are changing so rapidly."

In his autobiography, My Life in Medicine: A Hong Kong Journey, Yuen warns politicians must "come to their senses" and solve "global existential threats".

He says world leaders seem more focused on "national or regional interests", when a rapidly changing climate together with emerging infectious diseases should be a top priority.

"This is something so important that we should not ignore."

Over 20 years ago he and his team isolated and identified severe acute respiratory syndrome known as SARS that started in southern China and spread to Hong Kong and globally. The virus killed nearly 300 people in two months.

So it's not surprising he was on guard when the first reports of a mysterious virus was spreading in Wuhan, China.

Yuen's team tackled SARS in 2003

"We benefited from the 20 years of study that followed the SARS outbreak," he wrote in his book. "Until factors beyond our ability to stop or overcome -- fear, ignorance, poor messaging, and deliberate misinformation -- the measures were effective" in buying Hong Kong time until the vaccines were developed.

During the Covid-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, more than 13,800 people died and recorded some 3 million people, almost half the population. 

Yuen still thinks it's important to find out the origins of Covid-19, saying it is "important to properly do an investigation in a very open, transparent manner" so lessons can be learned for future pandemic prevention, he said.

"If we do not talk about it... then another pandemic comes, we have to pay a huge price again."

Don't say we haven't been warned...

Chief Executive Dismisses Call for Independent Covid-19 Inquiry

Lee says the government is constantly reviewing its policies

"Nothing to see here" is what Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu says in response to the proposal of holding an independent inquiry into the Hong Kong government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

At a press conference he dismissed the call made a week ago, saying there is no textbook solution on how to deal with the health crisis.

"The epidemic situation has been changing rapidly, and local governments respond in real time according to the situation. There is no recognised best or standard solution," he said.

Yuen called for independent inquiry last week

"I agree that we must sum up experience to ensure that we can effectively respond to different threats, and that is what the government has been continuously doing -- to sum up experience and optimised measures to ensure we have the ability to respond."

Infectious diseases expert Yuen Kwok-yung floated the idea several days ago and only now has the government responded, perhaps waiting for Beijing to craft what to say?

Yuen was hoping the inquiry would look into the government's deficiencies in areas such as virus-tracking, isolation and testing in the early stages of the pandemic, as well as review the large-scale outbreaks in elderly care homes.

It's a way of making the authorities accountable for how it managed the pandemic, but Lee shot this down, claiming the government is constantly reviewing its processes and improving them.

He said since taking office last July, he launched mechanisms to constantly review and improve the administration's pandemic policies, such as setting up a command group to lead government departments' response to the crisis. 

Lee also said he strengthened the public healthcare system and made decisions based on scientific evidence, among other measures.

Hong Kong focused on luring visitors to the city

And anyway, Hong Kong is moving on from the pandemic.

"We have been planning to reconnect with the international world, as well as fully reopen the border with the mainland. These are the results of the government's continuous review and continuous optimisation of policies," he added.

The two main goals are to focus on promoting Hong Kong to overseas and mainland visitors, while also planning for the return of full normality while constantly reviewing the city's capability in handling crises.

Basically, nothing to see here, move along.

Lee said he also assigned Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun to conduct a full review of the use of isolation and quarantine facilities, and to decide when the land could be released for new developments in phases, while reserving enough space for possible future crises.

Basically there will be no airing of dirty laundry in public -- it will all be done internally. You'll just have to trust that we are doing this in your best interests...

Yuen seems to be throwing out his last political salvo in an attempt to get the government to face up to its failings during the Covid-19 pandemic. Will he be thrown to the wolves or given the cold shoulder? Stay tuned!

Covid-19 Inquiry Welcome, but with Caveats

Many agree to an inquiry, but after the pandemic is over

After infectious diseases expert Yuen Kwok-yung pitched the idea of an independent inquiry into the Hong Kong government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, others are putting in their two bits as well.

Fellow experts David Hui Shu-cheong and Leung Chi-chiu agreed, but said the inquiry should start later.

Meanwhile professor Lau Yu-lung in the University of Hong Kong Paediatrics agrees in principle, and adds the inquiry should be headed by a judge and that it should start after the World Health Organisation declares the pandemic over.

Hui says inquiry should start later, not now

However, Executive Council convenor and chairperson of the New People's Party Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee threw in her opinion and as expected, she had many caveats. 

She did not like the idea of independent judges heading the inquiry because they are not policy experts, but isn't that the point?

Ip also said the inquiry should be held after the WHO declares the pandemic over, as there are still new variants. But as they are not as life-threatening as the original Covid-19, there is an argument to have it sooner rather than later.

Nevertheless, she did acknowledge there was a lack of support for infected patients at the peak of the crisis last year, saying the review should look into how to better mobilise social resources and how to maintain medical services when handling a large number of infected residents.

In addition Ip suggested looking into ways to make good use of technology and mobilise civil servants in handling major crises -- isn't that what they did in the latter half, when there was not enough manpower for essential services? 

Ip says officials should not be targeted

But perhaps most importantly, she stressed the inquiry should not target government officials who she says worked hard over the past three years.

"Everyone was handling it hand learning along the way, as well as optimising measures. We should not hold anyone accountable for everything, but should instead look for shortcomings and optimise procedures," she said.

While a blame game is not productive, an inquiry needs to uncover what happened and why, and how to make things better in the future.

But in some cases, there were things the health experts suggested and the government did not take the advice, or processes were completely mismanaged or incompetent. The design of the LeaveHomeSafe app comes to mind... 

Most would agree the community vaccination clinics were well organised, but did the government do enough to encourage people, particularly the elderly to get jabbed? Why did the authorities not clamp down on mis- and disinformation on vaccines and how many vials of vaccines were wasted? 

Taxpayers deserve to know what happened, and an inquiry -- if it ever happens -- is a good place to start. But caveats aren't very helpful when the government lacks integrity and transparency...

Dr Yuen Calls for Independent Inquiry into Handling Covid-19

How well did Hong Kong handle the Covid-19 pandemic? 

Infectious diseases professor Yuen Kwok-yung is calling for an independent inquiry into Hong Kong's handling of Covid-19 so that the city can better prepare the next time another pandemic comes around.

During a radio program, Yuen explained that after the 2003 SARS outbreak (20 years ago this March!), an inquiry was held, which led to the establishment of the Centre for Health Protection. 

Yuen and his duck mask that made him endearing

The centre has since put more resources into research and this helped to fight against Covid, he said.

Yuen said there was definitely room for improvement in contact-tracing and isolation arrangements during the current pandemic.

"We saw 12,000 to 13,000 deaths. Why don't we conduct a thorough investigation and clarify what we should do in the future? Speaking for myself, if I'm lucky, as an infectious disease expert, I might see a third pandemic during my lifetime. Hong Kong must be prepared for it."

Does Yuen realise the political implications of calling for an independent inquiry and where it will go? If the government agrees to it -- and that's a big IF -- the scope would probably be so limited to ensure the authorities look good.

An independent inquiry is definitely needed -- not only in the medical handling of this pandemic that led to one of the highest death rates in the world, but also the cost from the financial handouts, to the construction of those isolation units that are now collecting dust all over the city.

Hospitals overwhelmed with infected elderlies

How many of those pandemic kits were handed out, that had N95 masks, rapid antigen tests and that Chinese herbal medicine Lianghua Qingwen? How much did that cost? And the PCR tests conducted in the community testing centres. How many vials of vaccines were wasted?

The inquiry could also give insight into the communications between the infectious disease experts like Yuen and the government, and possibly hints if Beijing played a role in Hong Kong shaping its Covid policy.

We await to see the response...

In the meantime, Yuen is suggesting that masks come off at the end of March when the weather gets warmer and the virus has a shorter life cycle.

He warned there could be another surge of Covid-19 and other respiratory disease infections after people take off their masks, but says this is an inevitable part of opening up.

Get boosted in October, November says Yuen

"Once we take off our masks, the situation may get quite serious. But we have already said in February and March 2020 that this virus will stay with us... We have to open up sooner or later, and it's better to open up sooner after enough people are vaccinated," he said.

Yuen said people should get another Covid booster by October and November to prepare for a possible rebound in the winter.

Ah, it's never ending...

HK Quarantine-Free by November?

If no need for quarantine, then these containers are for who?

Wow is there really light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel?

New Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau is suggesting that quarantine measures could be lifted by November -- just in time for a government-sponsored bankers summit in a bid to keep and lure finance types to Hong Kong.

During that time there is also supposed to be the wildly popular and alcohol-soaked Rugby Sevens tournament... but no details as of yet.

Others are mortified that November is way to far off...

Lo says quarantine-free arrival with conditions

Nevertheless, Lo told the South China Morning Post that as Hong Kong is under the "one country, two systems" principle, the territory does not and has not followed the mainland's Covid-19 protocols and policies.

He said while there is the possibility of quarantine-free arrivals into Hong Kong, there will be conditions attached, but they were not outlined. Presumably it could involve a battery of tests or reporting daily to health workers?

Meanwhile Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has established his advisory panel on the pandemic. There are some familiar faces like David Hui Shu-cheong, Gabriel Leung, and Yuen Kwok-yung, while new ones are Ivan Hung Fan-ngai, Wallace Lau Chak-sing, and Lau Yu-lung.

Former Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had four advisors, and now Lee has six. As we saw over two and a half years, each expert had their own opinion and that was already bad enough with four, and now there are two more?

Leung stays on despite going to HKJC

Interesting that Gabriel Leung stays on, as he has a new job at the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

It will be interesting to see if Lee keeps a tight leash on these advisors or if they will all tow the same line or not speak at all?

And in other health news -- don't eat too much dim sum! There's a lot of salt in those bamboo steamer baskets!

The Centre for Food Safety tested 120 dim sum samples from 50 restaurants and found the sodium content of shrimp siu mai, spring rolls with shrimp, and steamed minced beef balls were relatively high.

Christine Wong, the centre's controller, said for example, an adult could effectively consume around one-third of the daily sodium intake by just having shrimp siu mai and a shrimp spring roll dish.

She advises people to eat less dim sum and for restaurants to provide sauces on the side and in smaller portions.

Shrimp siu mai has a lot of sodium in it

With inflation skyrocketing, surely there are fewer people eating out there days, and then the Covid-19 social-distancing restrictions too.

And this news is just what restaurants need -- fewer people patronising the food and beverage industry when they are still trying to recover from the pandemic...

Vancouver Moves from Pandemic, HK still Bickering

Chan says vaccine pass the only way to bump up jab rate

It's been one month since I came back to Vancouver and so far, so good. 

While the sixth wave of Covid-19 here apparently peaked last week, there is no urgent concern about it in the media -- in fact media outlets are tired of reporting on the pandemic and have now jumped on Monkey Pox, a very rare skin disease that was discovered in two patients so far in Quebec.

This is a stark contrast to Hong Kong, where health experts are verbally duelling with the Secretary for Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee about vaccinations. 

Cowling says vaccine pass can cause hesitancy

Two University of Hong Kong academics, epidemiologist Ben Cowling and assistant pharmacy professor Theo Chan Tak-kwong say the government should drop the vaccine pass, as it forces people to get jabs in order to go to work, and so it makes them even more hesitant to get inoculated.

However, Dr Sophia Chan wrote in an opinion piece in Ming Pao that the vaccine pass was still necessary to build the city's immunity against Covid-19 so that its residents can resume a relatively normal life as Hong Kong continues to strive for dynamic zero -- a goal many experts say is impossible to achieve.

She noted some people may not want to get vaccinated as they didn't see the benefits of it, and hinted they were being selfish instead of thinking of the greater public good. And so Chan said the authorities needed to build a strong immunity barrier to protect people who are high risk from the coronavirus, including the elderly and patients with chronic diseases.

HKers need jabs to dine out, go to movies, etc

But the elderly and those with chronic diseases are the ones who should be prioritised in getting jabbed -- even if it's with the Chinese-made vaccine Sinovac.

During her tenure as the Secretary for Health, less than 23 percent of people over 80 were vaccinated when the fifth wave hit, which resulted in just under 7,000 deaths in March alone.

But honestly it's quite shocking to hear people in Hong Kong only recently getting their second jab, when I am waiting to get my fourth in a few months' time.

Another infectious diseases expert, Yuen Kwok-yung, agreed with Chan, saying the vaccine pass was necessary to increase the number of vaccinations to prevent another wave of infections, unless 95 percent of the population was inoculated.

In British Columbia, it's quite surprising to hear that even though 84 percent of the population have had two doses, it drops down to 52.1 percent for the booster. Seems that many people here have pandemic fatigue and want to move on, while others, particularly the elderly are actively wearing masks on the street and in stores.

Over 84 percent British Columbians inoculated

Companies here are trying to entice their employees to come back to the office, but people are dragging their feet or demanding more days at home, while in Hong Kong it's pretty much expected people return to the office unless they are vaccinated -- another reason not to get jabbed.

And so the cycle continues...