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Cheung Chau Bun Scramble and Piu Sik Parade 2021 Cancelled

The organisers of the annual Cheung Chau Da Jiu, Cheung Chau Bun Festival, have cancelled the Bun Scrambling Competition and the Piu Sik (Floating Colours) Parade due to the ‘Covid’.

The festival, which takes place on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar year, runs from 17-20 May this year.

Legends say that the festival began after Cheung Chau was devastated by a plague in the late Qing dynasty. To dispel the plague Chiu Chow natives invited Taoist priests to set up a sacrificial altar near the Pak Tai Temple to pray to deities, offer repentance and to comfort departed souls. The residents also paraded deity statues along village lanes.

The plague ended soon after the ritual. Since then, residents on Cheung Chau have been organising the annual Jiao Festival to express gratitude to Pak Tai for blessing the area with peace.

Cheung Chau Da Jiu, Cheung Chau Bun Festival
Date: 17-20 May 2021
Venue: Cheung Chau
Tickets: Free

Entry Restrictions on Non-Hong Kong Residents Extended

The Hong Kong government today (6 April, 2020) extended, until further notice, the entry restrictions on non-Hong Kong residents arriving by plane.

All transit at Hong Kong International Airport will continue to be suspended until further notice.

The entry restrictions, which came into effect on the 25 March 2020, were announced by the Government on 23 March with the aim of reducing imported cases of the Wuhan virus know as COVID-19:

• All non-Hong Kong residents coming from overseas countries and regions by plane will be denied entry to Hong Kong;
• Non-Hong Kong residents coming from the Mainland, Macao and Taiwan will be denied entry to Hong Kong if they have been to any overseas countries and regions in the past 14 days;
• All transit services at Hong Kong International Airport will be suspended;
• All travellers coming from Macao and Taiwan, including Hong Kong and non-Hong Kong residents, will be subject to a 14-day compulsory quarantine, which is the same as the arrangements for people entering Hong Kong from the Mainland.

The entry restriction and suspension of transit services at the airport were at the time to be implemented tentatively for 14 days, ending on 7 April, 2020.

Exemptions to the above restrictions include:

• Crew members of aircraft who need to commute to and from foreign places in performance of necessary duties or crew members of goods vessels;
• Government officials carrying out government duties including personnel of consular posts;
• Personnel engaged in anti-epidemic work endorsed by the HKSAR Government;
• Spouses and minor children of Hong Kong residents.

All entrants to Hong Kong must complete 14-days compulsory quarantine on arrival.

Read the government press release https://t.co/WW8NKVLBqB?amp=1

More information can be found on the government’s dedicated website www.coronavirus.gov.hk

Red Outbound Travel Alert for Europe

The Hong Kong government today issued a Red Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) for 26 European countries. The alert warns against all non-essential travel to countries in the Shengen area, the part of Europe covered by an open-border travel arrangement.

“In view of the health risks arising from the outbreak of the COVID-19 in Europe, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (March 13) issued the Red Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) on certain European countries (Schengen Area), including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Principality of Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Republic of Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.”

The Red OTA urges members of the public planning to travel to the aforementioned countries to adjust travel plans and avoid non-essential travel.

After returning to Hong Kong travelers should consult a doctor promptly if experiencing a fever or other COVID-19 symptoms, and wear a surgical mask until 14 days after returning to Hong Kong.

More information can be found on the government’s dedicated website www.coronavirus.gov.hk

Where to Access Coronavirus News Without a Paywall

When it comes to coronavirus news / COVID-19, there is a mass of misinformation and charlatans looking to profit from the suffering of others.

Many of the media sources you might trust are behind paywalls – journalism after all costs money – with limited free articles.

However because of the seriousness and global nature of the pandemic many news outlets have made their COVID-19 news free to access. Here is list of major outlets with free updates and articles:

The New York Times is offering its COVID-19 coverage for free.

The Washington Post has a free email newsletter for coronavirus-related news. All articles linked in the newsletter are free.

The Los Angeles Times coronavirus liveblog is available for free.

The Wall Street Journal has created a free section for coronavirus articles.

The Atlantic is offering all coronavirus-related articles for free.

The Star is labeling free articles related to the coronavirus with a red “free digital access” label.

The Guardian has no paywall.

BBC has no paywall

Associated Press

STAT, which covers health and medicine, is offering its coronavirus coverage for free.

Compulsory Quarantine For Inbound Travellers

The Department of Health announced that from 14 March compulsory quarantine orders, under the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation (Cap. 599A), will be enforced against people arriving in Hong Kong who have been to Italy, France, Germany, Japan and Spain in the past 14 days, regardless of whether they are Hong Kong residents.

The new orders require people to stay in a Quarantine Centre for the duration of their quarantine.

More information can be found on the government’s dedicated website www.coronavirus.gov.hk

Choosing Who Lives or Dies….

Two weeks ago, Italy had 322 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. At that point, doctors in the country’s hospitals could lavish significant attention on each stricken patient.

One week ago, Italy had 2,502 cases of the virus, which causes the disease known as COVID-19. At that point, doctors in the country’s hospitals could still perform the most lifesaving functions by artificially ventilating patients who experienced acute breathing difficulties.

Today, Italy has 10,149 cases of the coronavirus. There are now simply too many patients for each one of them to receive adequate care. Doctors and nurses are unable to tend to everybody. They lack machines to ventilate all those gasping for air.

Now the Italian College of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SIAARTI) has published guidelines for the criteria that doctors and nurses should follow as these already extraordinary circumstances worsen. The document begins by likening the moral choices Italian doctors may face to the forms of wartime triage that are required in the field of “catastrophe medicine.” Instead of providing intensive care to all patients who need it, the authors suggest, it may become necessary to follow “the most widely shared criteria regarding distributive justice and the appropriate allocation of limited health resources.”

The principle they settle upon is utilitarian. “Informed by the principle of maximizing benefits for the largest number,” they suggest that “the allocation criteria need to guarantee that those patients with the highest chance of therapeutic success will retain access to intensive care.”

Read the full article here at The Atlantic

Cheung Chau Bun Scramble and Piu Sik Parade Cancelled

The organisers of the annual Cheung Chau Da Jiu, Cheung Chau Bun Festival, have cancelled the Bun Scrambling Competition and the Piu Sik (Floating Colours) Parade due to the ‘Wuhan Flu’ health precautions.

The festival, which takes place on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar year, runs from 27th April to 1 May this year.

The plague ended soon after the ritual. Since then, residents on Cheung Chau have been organising the annual Jiao Festival to express gratitude to Pak Tai for blessing the area with peace.

Cheung Chau Da Jiu, Cheung Chau Bun Festival
Date: 28 April – 1 May 2020
Venue: Cheung Chau
Tickets: Free