It’s been 20 months since I last left Hong Kong. This is by far a record for me; having lived in the city for more than three decades before the pandemic, I was used to taking overseas trips three or four times a year. [More…]
In search of Zero… (Click for the article)
That para could have been me writing it instead of columnist Kammerer. If it were me only two things would change: it’s been 22 months without travel; and I used to do six to eight trips a year.
That was always a great thing about being here. Sure we’re a city-state. But you could leave easily. Be at the airport in seventeen minutes (no more; no less — traffic-free from our front door), and quickly, easily through to the comfy business lounge. To spoon up the best Dan Dan Noodles in Hong Kong, at the Cathay lounge, washed down with a fine wine. Oh, bliss!
So, that was then. And this is now. Where I’m wondering if things will ever get back to that kind of normal in my life time. Getting through the mandatory testing and health checks now takes five hours. And then three weeks in strict hotel quarantine. If you can even book a hotel — I saw yesterday they’re booked through to post Xmas.
I realise as I write this that I’m describing a very First World Problem. There are people losing lives and livelihoods. Not worried about their next overseas trip.
So I just leave it there. Noting it. And wondering, with us here having zero Covid cases for months, if things don’t change now, then when…
ADDED: I this what we want the world to look like post Covid?
