Jordan Sealed Area｜If it is unsealed or unsealed, it must also be sealed "epidemic area".

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Written by: Hao Ziyu

2021-01-24 13:31

Last update date: 2021-01-24 13:31

The Special Administrative Region Government gazetted at 4 am last Saturday (January 23), citing the "Prevention and Control of Diseases (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulations (Chapter 599J)) to delineate a designated quarantine area in Jordan and require the area People must stay on the premises and undergo mandatory testing in accordance with government arrangements.

There has been a small outbreak in the area for more than three weeks, and the Hong Kong government has finally adopted an unprecedented "zone closure" measure, hoping to complete the operation within 48 hours.

As the incident happened suddenly, some people complained about the hasty arrangements, and some people questioned that the authorities had "released the wind" one day earlier, causing many residents to leave the premises in advance, making it difficult for the inspection operations to be leak-proof.

In fact, all this chaos could have been avoided. If the government was early vigilant and had the courage to "dock its tail", why should the residents become "disaster victims"?

The fourth wave of the new crown pneumonia outbreak that began on November 20 last year increased the number of confirmed cases from 5,517 to 10,010 last Saturday (January 23). There is no sign of slowing down so far.

A small outbreak began in Yau Ma Tei at the end of December last year. There have been nearly 200 new confirmed cases in the past three weeks.

There have long been opinions in the market that the authorities should take more intense compulsory quarantine actions as soon as possible to stop the source of transmission and avoid further outbreaks.

However, it was not until the morning of last Friday (January 22) that there was news that the SAR government planned to "close the area." Subsequently, the Department of Health, the Environmental Protection Department, the Buildings Department and other departments went to inspect the area one after another. Yuan Guoyong, a government expert consultant and chair professor of the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong, said that since there is no guarantee how many people in the area have been tested, it is necessary to strengthen quarantine to avoid "leakage."

For a while, businesses and residents in the district panicked, worrying that the district would become a "disaster area" due to the deserted flow of people.

After a whole day of "exhaustion", the SAR government gazetted at 4 am last Saturday and delineated "restricted areas" in Jordan: east to Wusong Street, south to Nanjing Street, west to Battery Street, and north To Gansu Street, people in the area are required to stay on the premises and undergo compulsory testing.

After a whole day of "exhaustion", the SAR government gazetted at 4 a.m. last Saturday to delineate a "restricted area" in Jordan.

(Photo by Chen Yongwu)

Constantly making wrong judgments

"The business loss is 99.9%, we are dead!" "This epidemic building is a problem left over from history. I have long discovered that there is a problem. Do you think of something big now?" "You have food, we stop talking! "Originally, this street connected Mong Kok, Yau Ma Tei, and Tsim Sha Tsui. I don’t know how busy it is. Now it’s a dead city..." Vendors from the open-air market on Reclamation Street surrounded the district councillor Ho Fu-wing. After they vented their grievances, they became emotional Calm down a bit: "Those officials won't be off the street. We don't find you, who can we find?" Since the diagnosis was discovered at the end of last month, the area was reduced to an "infected area" within two weeks.

As of January 17, a total of 22 people have been diagnosed in the tenement building at No. 26 Xin Reclamation Street.

The response of the authorities has been slow, and the compulsory measures are full of loopholes, and the effectiveness of the fight against the epidemic is inevitably compromised.

On the other hand, Shijiazhuang, a mainland city, also found an epidemic at the beginning of this month. All 10 million people were tested within three days. In addition, a seven-day home quarantine was carried out, followed by a second test. A total of more than 700 cases were screened twice. Positive.

The two are like parallel time and space.

Neighborhood councillor Ho Fu-wing (first from left) complained in the neighborhood.

(Photo by Gao Zhongming)

"Oh!" He Furong sighed frequently throughout the interview.

He said that from the beginning, the misjudgment of the epidemic caused huge problems.

On January 8, the government gazetted No. 26 Xin Reclamation Street on the list of mandatory inspections.

In the seven-story old building at No. 20-26 Reclamation Street, there were originally two elevators and four houses, but most of them were divided into sub-districted houses.

He said that people familiar with the situation of this building at that time believed that the entire building (that is, the double building No. 20-26) must be inspected for such a dense building.

However, the Department of Health replied that it was sufficient to test Building 26.

On January 12, the government issued another announcement requesting mandatory inspections for units 20-26 on Reclamation Street.

In the early morning of January 14, about 50 residents of these units were "forced evacuated" to Dorsett Kwun Tong for isolation.

He Furong criticized that these two "amendment" measures confirmed the government's wrong judgment.

Ho Fu-wing said that the Hong Kong government’s anti-epidemic policy has dragged its feet. I don’t know if it really wants to "tighten". With the determination to "mandatory", there are no cooperating measures. At most, it is only encouraging "voluntary".

The above-mentioned market vendors complained and became angry because they did not see clear instructions from the government, did not know how to cooperate in the fight against the epidemic, and did not know how to make a living.

He said that the Hong Kong government is neither completely ignored like the United Kingdom and the United States, nor can it be strictly tightened like the mainland, and it is "nondescript" and "nothing at all."

He said that home quarantine and bans will definitely affect the start of work at the grassroots level, but he believes in scientific methods. If these bans are necessary, he hopes that the government will do it immediately without hesitation.

On January 8, the government gazetted No. 26 Xin Reclamation Street on the list of mandatory inspections.

He Furong said that a building with such a density must be inspected for the entire building (ie double building No. 20-26).

However, the Department of Health replied that it was sufficient to test Building 26.

(Photo by Liao Yanxiong)

Mandatory orders are questionable

However, the effectiveness of the enclosure has also been questioned by all walks of life.

Firstly, most people in the area have been tested; secondly, if it is proved that there is a problem with the pipes in the building, it will be even more dangerous to trap residents at home. Moreover, many residents have evacuated the area by themselves.

According to He Furong's recollection, even though police officers came to pull the line of defense on the day of the mandatory evacuation, as well as personnel from the Civil Affairs Department and the Department of Health, after the evacuation was "completed" at around 9 o'clock, no one was interested.

Later, residents returning from going out entered the building one after another, and even three hours after the government staff left, a child came down from the building... These residents were described as "fish that slipped through the net", but the "fish" would leak. It is because the government's "net" is too loose.

"There is no staff downstairs to explain to these residents who have just returned home, how can we ensure that everyone cooperates with their work and takes the initiative to go to the quarantine center? The government says that no mandatory testing will have serious consequences, but there is no "consequence". Where is it. Can the government not think of this? There are so many loopholes in the whole thing, so what is the point of forcing residents to be quarantined?" At this point, He Furong was a little excited.

The compulsory testing measures also specify that if citizens stay in designated high-risk places for two hours, they must be tested-easy said, how can they be implemented?

He believes that even if there is a home quarantine and ban, the district councilor or the home affairs office in the district council can do coordination work.

However, in the process of outbreaks in the district and implementation of detection measures, district councilors who are familiar with the situation in the district cannot find a role.

The compulsory evacuation of residents began at 5 am on January 14, but Ho Furong received an "informal" notice from the Home Affairs Department at 7:40.

He bluntly said that his usual channels for receiving messages are no different from those of ordinary citizens. They are all through watching press conferences or surfing the Internet, because there are few immediate instructions from government departments.

In the process of the outbreak and the implementation of detection measures in the district, the district councillor who was familiar with the situation in the district could not find a role. He Fu-wing only received the "informal communication" from the Civil Affairs Department in the morning of the same day, but he did not receive any information from the government department. Instructions.

(Photo by Liang Pengwei)

Old district sub-houses hidden dangers

Whether it is the Yau Tsim Mong district or the Sham Shui Po district that has just been put under compulsory testing, the similarities involve old districts, three-no buildings, sub-districts, and ethnic minorities.

Vendors pointed out that the piping problem in the epidemic building has always existed and is a "historical issue." It is only the outbreak that has been taken seriously by the government.

The social work team of Leung Kit-ching, director of the Caritas Grassroots Organization Development Project Team, has been doing regional work in the old district of Sham Shui Po for a long time. Faced with the maintenance and public health of many three-no buildings, they gradually figured out a set of "Neighbors handle local affairs by themselves" Methods such as summoning the residents in the building, using "folk wisdom" to clean the patios full of garbage and sewage, repair broken stairs, and make posters urging residents not to throw masks.

However, folk wisdom is one thing, and government laziness is another.

Huang Xiaohui, Senior Supervisor of Caritas Community Development Services, said that the problems of old buildings did not just appear today, but were often broken here and there. They should have received more resources and energy for maintenance, but they have not been able to receive regular subsidies. "It may be a small loophole in itself. If it is resolved early, it will not become such a big hidden danger in the epidemic now."

She also pointed out that the government’s response to the epidemic was slow and lack of mobility, which can only be achieved through the concerted efforts of different stakeholders in the community.

"The government shouldn't contact us, but if necessary, we will definitely help. Although there are many inspection points, we need to consider more: for example, the elderly who are inconvenient to go downstairs, the residents who finish work late, etc."

The director of the Caritas Grassroots Organization Development Project Team Leung Kit-ching’s social work team has been doing regional work in the old district of Sham Shui Po for a long time, and gradually figured out a set of methods of "handling district affairs by the neighbours themselves."

(Photo by Zheng Zifeng)

It's not too late to make good use of manpower

During the previous compulsory testing in the new reclaimed street, the Department of Health stated that there was no occupant list in the sub-districts, and the CHP had difficulty tracking down the list, which became the government's biggest excuse for failing to implement the "mandatory order."

However, the regional organizations do not agree. Liang Jieqing said that compared with private and public housing, it is really difficult to get the list of three-no buildings, but even if there is no OC, you can find an estate agent to get the list of tenants.

Moreover, as a local worker, even in a highly mobile community, he can roughly grasp the changes of residents through the previously formed neighborhood network.

She believes that one should not mistakenly think that everyone has a TV and a smart phone in their homes. Many local residents she contacts do not have this condition, and many South Asians only speak Urdu and do not know Chinese and English.

In this case, the power of the neighbourhood is highlighted.

She gave an example: "When we do home visits on weekdays, we will ask a neighbourhood to help inform other units. Over time, when things happen, everyone will want to inform others. This is the help of the neighbours. Through the neighbourhood to deal with the building The problem will be more direct and quicker."

Huang Xiaohui added that it is necessary to deal with regional epidemics such as newly reclaimed streets quickly, but we need to work together: "How strong is a community against the epidemic? This is not an NGO (non-governmental organization), a district councilor, or a resident. No one can do things alone. We have been in the region for many years and have formed a network with different stakeholders, and we can all contribute.” However, the government has never thought of using this bottom-up approach. Dealing with the epidemic provides opportunities for those who are willing to "help".

The outbreak from Reclamation Street to Yau Ma Tei once again confirmed the "disease" of the government, such as indecisive decision-making, care about the epidemic situation, and lack of contact with the region.

The implementation of real compulsory measures only now may really be a remedy, but if we can accept expert advice, expand the scope of quarantine and be alert to the spread of the epidemic to neighboring districts, I believe it will be "not too late."

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