Victor Ting

As the world grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic, one issue has divided the international medical community: should everyone wear masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus? From the start, the World Health Organization said the answer was “no.” Masks should be worn by those who are sick, and medical and care workers, according to the global body. There was no need for people who are well to wear them. That position was adopted by countries such as the United States, Britain, much of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and Singapore. Those governments emphasized frequent handwashing and social distancing. They also cited the need to save available masks for health care wor

Health experts have said social distancing and increased awareness resulting from the coronavirus pandemic helped end Hong Kong’s winter influenza season nine weeks earlier than last year. The number of flu-related deaths in the city fell from 356 in 2019 to 113 people this year, while intensive care unit admissions dropped from 601 to 182. Epidemiologists said the city had been able to avoid the double whammy of influenza and the coronavirus outbreak largely because of social distancing measures and heightened vigilance caused by the pandemic. By Thursday afternoon, the city reported 453 Covid-19 cases, including four fatalities. The Centre for Health Protection said Hong Kong’s annual flu

More than 100 restaurants in Hong Kong have refused to serve diners from mainland China during the coronavirus outbreak, according to a human rights group that is warning firms against crossing the line into racial discrimination. The Society for Community Organisation found the businesses were posting messages online or displaying notices at their premises barring Mandarin speakers and non-locals, while secret shopper visits revealed mainlanders were being turned away. Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong of the advocacy group said the health crisis did not justify discriminatory practices against visitors to the city and recent immigrants from the mainland. “Of course restaurants should take different

More than 2 million, or almost one in three, adults in Hong Kong have shown symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder during the prolonged civil unrest in the city, a study published in a leading medical journal has found. The number was six times higher than four years ago, just after the pro-democracy Umbrella Revolution protests had ended. Researchers urged the government to step up its mental health provisions. The research, conducted by the University of Hong Kong, also suggested that up to 11% of the city’s adult population was affected by probable depression last year, five times higher than the figure collected from 2009 to 2014, when it was just 2%. The research, published in an ar

Women around the world will know the frustration of standing in seemingly interminable lines for the restroom, while watching men waltz in and out of urinals with no wait. The Hong Kong Toilet Association says it has a solution to this age-old problem. It is calling for female urinals to be built in the city’s public toilets. The association says such facilities would cut peeing time to just 90 seconds, compared with the usual two to three minutes, and help to shorten lines outside women’s washrooms. Urinals would also take up only half the space of a full cubicle, the group said, adding that the facilities could include disposable paper urine funnels to help women aim accurately. They could

Hong Kong’s tourism industry is paying the price for three months of anti-government protests calling for political reforms. With fewer tourists traveling to Hong Kong, many hotel workers have had to take paid or unpaid leave due to a drop in occupancy rates. For example, the 492-room Mira Hong Kong, situated in the bustling tourist district of Tsim Sha Tsui, has put scores of housekeeping staff for an unwanted break, the South China Morning Post has learned. A few streets away, the luxury waterfront InterContinental Hong Kong hotel has asked staff to take annual leave and unpaid leave to save money. Ten hotels operated by tycoon Li Ka-shing’s CK Asset Holdings have reportedly made a simi

In what appeared to be an attack targeting supporters of continuing anti-government protests in Hong Kong, a man stabbed three people, leaving one of them in critical condition. The assault took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning at a so-called Lennon Wall, surfaces plastered with sticky-note messages of support for the recent demonstrations, in the residential neighborhood of Tseung Kwan O. Police said on Tuesday afternoon they arrested a 50-year-old man in connection with the attack at a border crossing near the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen. The stabbing evokes the mob beating of anti-government protesters and passengers at a train station in northern Hong Kong last month. I

Hong Kong’s tax authority will now treat married gay couples the same as married opposite-sex couples. The rule change by the Inland Revenue Department came one month after a major legal victory for the LGBT community over spousal rights. In a written reply to an inquiry by the South China Morning Post, a spokeswoman for the department said same-sex married couples could now submit joint tax assessments, giving them access to tax benefits previously available only to married straight couples. In a landmark decision in June, Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal ruled in favor of senior immigration officer Angus Leung Chun-kwong, who had taken the government to court after being treated unequall

Are you a nutritionist? Good. You can skip this article. Hongkongers consume the equivalent length of the Earth’s circumference in French toast annually, a survey has found. The finding has prompted a nutritionist to warn of health risks caused by the city’s snacking habits. “Hong Kong’s favorite foods are deep-fried with a lot of oil, and usually served with butter and syrup. Excessive consumption could lead to obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease,” said Cynthia Wong Oi-se, a senior nutritionist at NutraCare Consultancy. But fans of the greasy, sweet – or both – snacks on offer in Hong Kong-style diners are not ignorant of those risks. They just don’t care. Despite an overwhelmin