HONG KONG, Feb 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Standing at the picket line, just 200 metres from her hospital entrance, Kaddy Chan wished she could report for duty as usual.
For weeks now, the outpatient nurse and her colleagues have been grappling with shrinking supplies of surgical masks and hazmat suits, avoiding trips outside the wards, so as to keep their protective gear free from contamination.
“If we don’t close the border, no amount of resources would be sufficient to deal with the onslaught of sick people,” said Chan.
She was among the more than 3,000 members of a hospital workers’ union, who started a week-long strike on Monday – a last-ditch effort to pressure the government of this semi-autonomous Chinese city, to completely seal the border with mainland China.
Many here believe a full closure would be the best way to stem the influx of travellers infected with the novel coronavirus that has spread to every Chinese province, with more than 300 deaths and 17,000 confirmed cases.
But authorities said, closing the border would not be in line with World Health Organisation recommendations.
With 16 confirmed cases so far, fewer than the number reported in neighbouring countries, such as South Korea and Thailand, Hong Kong may appear to have the outbreak under control. Yet, the sense of alarm here has been amplified by close ties with mainland China.
With the mainland just a 45-minute bus or subway ride away, many commuters and retirees, lured by lower costs of living, have made their home north of the border.
According to some estimates, nearly one in five out of the 7.4 million Hong Kong residents is a recent emigre from mainland China.
In response to the strike, authorities are set to close four more crossings by midnight Tuesday (tonight), still leaving the airport and two other seaports open to mainland visitors. Last Sunday, these ports saw more than 7,000 crossings from the mainland, as travellers returned from Lunar New Year trips.
To many people here, the coronavirus outbreak is dreadful deja vu. Long queues of anxious shoppers snake around the blocks, waiting to sweep up whatever boxes of surgical masks are available.
Whereas Singapore and Taiwan have rationed the sales of masks, in a bid to calm the public, Hong Kong authorities maintained that the market should dictate supplies and prices.
With the city still recovering after seven months of anti-government protests over a since-shelved extradition bill, fresh clashes have erupted between police and protesters over authorities’ choices to locate quarantine camps close to residential areas.
