[20 July 2020 Hong Kong] – Hong Kong in the last week has seen a sudden surge of COVID-19 cases and on 19 July 2020 (Sunday) a total of 108 new cases were reported which is a record high. On around 15 July 2020 the rise has been sudden and prior to this date Hong Kong enjoyed many days of no new cases; there was a sense that the virus had gone away up until that point. The Hong Kong government has claimed that they did not know the cause of the spike; however upon further investigation we believe that we may have found the reason for the cause.

So what caused these new cases in Hong Kong (July 2020)?

What is unbeknownst to many in Hong Kong and the rest of the world is that there is an ever-growing list of those who are exempt from quarantine; The following is the list of categories of people who are exempt exemption_list_15jul2020. Tens of thousands are on the list and at least half are from Mainland China; there was a massive outbreak of COVID-19 in Beijing towards the end of June and many of the politicians from Beijing and directors of listed companies live in Beijing. These people all travel to and from Hong Kong without the need for quarantine and are completely off the government’s COVID-19 management radar.  We all know that the virus can infect anyone even if you are a chief executive of a listed company; are these people contributing to the fight against COVID-19 or society in a special way that we should risk all the good work the rest of society are doing so that a few privileged people who make more money than most can enjoy preferential treatment?  Why are we sacrificing the safety of so many for the benefit of so few whom do so little for everyone?

It’s quite easy to work out who was the first carrier from the process of extrapolation; so it most probable that the recent surge in cases are imported and are brought about by people who are exempt from quarantine. Of course the Hong Kong government would not admit this if it were the case.

I think pilots and others essential to the travel industry should be exempt but not directors from the mainland China who do not need to be in Hong Kong.