There were also some incredibly doctrinaire free marketers in charge. I can’t recall his name, but one governor of HK refused to allow the economic numbers to be published lest it distract from the proper ordering of the economy (one wonders if he didn’t have a point there).
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This has been my anecdotal experience too.
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Well hopefully we don’t still have people thinking it’s like the flu. And if only masks and social distancing were the overwhelming majority.
Very true. With the flu having virtually disappeared, thinking Covid is like the flu is ignorance.
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Not sure if trolling or serious. But flu numbers are waaaaay way down for 2020, so you’re pretty accurate.
I was very much serious.
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Sometimes it’s hard to tell 
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But do we know yet why the flu has disappeared because of masks and distancing while COVID flourished?
I blame Ze Germans. I’m serious this time.
Handelsblatt, supposedly the most cerebral of German newspapers, demonstrated that neither their journalists nor editors understand elementary algebra (8% of over-65s in the sample and not 8% effectiveness on the over-65s) by quoting an equally dumb German government source.
Mutti Merkel did another breathtaking PR disaster by refusing the AZ vaccine for herself. If you’re in the fucking government, roll up the fucking sleeve and get the shot otherwise you’re just providing fodder to the anti-vaxxers and assorted “sceptics”.
Oh, and I forgot the French gerontophiliac with his Trumpian “some people say it doesn’t work” and “pseudo-effective” reference to the AZ vaccine. His POS behavior may have cost him the reelection.
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We don’t know. But, the theory i keep hearing is that the quarantine, masks, and hyper vigilant hygeine nearly eliminated the Flu this year. These measures were enough to stop the flu, but only slow covid. Which speaks to how much more contagious and virulent Covid19 is compared to this past season’s seasonal flu.
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Yes more contagious and still weird to say “durr if masks and distancing work how come we have Covid” in a nation where the vast majority of people aren’t doing either of those things.
But we got those people to wear pants somehow so that’s a big win.
Speak for yourself. It was a pretty small win for me, personally 
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Lol. We convinced them to be sheep on that I guess. If they ever put out a YouTube video that wearing pants in public is a George Soros plot we got no chance.
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I’d say the easiest and simplest answer is simply: because Covid is significantly more infectious and easily spread than the flu. The flu hasn’t disappeared completely, it’s simply very very minimal so far this season. Everybody is using tons of hand sanitizer and at least many people are masking up and somewhat distancing. Numbers vary but a couple past reports have covid being more than twice as easily spread as the flu.
Any time the R0 drops below one an outbreak or infection will die off eventually. If the number stays right around one or barely higher, then growth is extremely slow and generally speaking not overwhelming.
Yeah, but to be fair to the British, IMO they left a great legacy behind with regards to the constitution, legal system, culture and education and I doubt HK would have prospered so much without their involvement. This includes other Commonwealth countries in S.E Asia like Singapore. The latter was a fucking unpopulated island with a couple of fishermen before they arrived ffs lol. And they initially defended these countries with great conviction against the Japanese during WW2. It’s why people there still respect the British so much.
I think I’ve posted this quite a few times, but if you all want get an idea of what life under colonial rule was like prior to the 80s, go check this movie out:
It’s based on a real guy. The name of the movie is silly because lots of HK movie titles were silly at the time. The dude’s name was Lui Lok(“Lui” is pronounced as “looay” or something but fuck it I can’t even pronounce it right since my Cantonese sucks) but it looks stupid as an English title lol. It’s about police corruption and collaboration with the triads and apparently it’s so authentic the fucking cops AND old gangsters where I lived were recommending it to one another when it was first released. Illegal vcd vendors were all playing it on their TVs while selling their shit.
There’s even a short part where they show how the COPS planned the allocation of triad territories based on their nature of businesses and how saturated the area was so they’d profit most while getting into the least amount of disputes. The former still happens TODAY in some places from what gang owned night club owners I’ve spoken to tell me although there’s minimal bribery going on. And these places I’m talking about aren’t even in HK lol.
The most valuable legacy the Brits left behind was probably economics lol.
It’s one movie split into 2 parts. There’s no “sequel”. The movie itself was produced by the sons of the leader of one of HK’s largest triads.
The cinematographer went on to make the Infernal Affairs trilogy. Plus, for HK movie fans, the recently deceased Ng Man Tat’s (RIP) best performance ever was in this movie. So was Andy Lau’s.
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Not to mention schools are a big flu spreader and some of them have been closed and even if not are doing more than ever before about preventing illness while at school.
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Oh I am aware, the Guardian picked up the story (I’m sure you’re not surprised) and hastily retracted it once it was picked apart.
With an especially stupid reason, ‘I am 66.’ Give me a break.
I have no small amount of contempt for Macron in doing this. It was pure Gallic anglophobia, with a dose of pandering the French vaccine scepticism.
His bilious drek also spread to Ireland too, where our notoriously Anglophobe press ran with his words, I am sure this will make some Irish people hesitant to get the AZ shot. EM acted shamefully, and his only electoral saviour will be his opponent remaining poisonous to the French 50+ demographic.
Edit: telling your populace that a vaccine isn’t safe or effective for the elderly, during a plague that especially harms the enemy, is an act of gross negligence. Disgraceful.
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Parents have been unable to send their snot dripping kids to school. Which is how it should always have been.