Thread by @WilliamYang120

"#Hong Kong is going round in circles, closing down and opening up just a little bit, in an endless loop that has everybody feeling claustrophobic." by @IlariaMariaSala: theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

"For more than two years, the city’s success in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic relied not on vaccinations, but almost entirely on keeping the virus out, and making it hard for people to get together in large groups.

Now the virus has breached the defences – and we’re paying the price. For most of the past two years, no more than four people could meet up in public;"

"now that number is two. It has been difficult to disentangle the measures taken to prevent illness from those taken to prevent political protests – and this mix has bred a toxic mistrust."

"Leaving the city was not easy – the former transportation hub is still far behind pre-pandemic flight levels, and an airline that comes bearing Covid-positive passengers can be banned for a fortnight."

"All of this was the price to pay in pursuit of 'zero Covid'. It was tough, but the numbers were kept low. The absence of an exit strategy, however, has made the economic cost painfully high, ...

... with businesses going under and one-way departures from the city becoming a heartbreaking norm."

"This has meant that in a moment of crisis the Hong Kong government could only rely on its own, not always trusted, channels to communicate new anti-pandemic measures, explain the need for vaccinations and help those who found it hard to navigate the emergency."

"Eventually, the virus made its way into the city through community infection – strict anti-Covid measures were never going to be impenetrable for ever – allowing the more contagious Omicron variant a foothold."

"In less than two months, Hong Kong has run out of coffins and space in the morgue. Pictures of sick elderly patients on hospital beds outdoors – and of body bags piling up next to patients in a chaotic hospital ward – have shocked the population."

"In recent days Hong Kong has had the highest mortality rate since the beginning of the pandemic anywhere in the world. What’s more, there are fewer and fewer people left to ask the authorities hard questions – accountability has never felt further out of reach."

"The way forward is still unclear. And all this at a time when Hong Kong is supposed to be preparing for the festivities around the 25th anniversary of its handover to China on 1 July – festivities that will, of course, be free of those pesky pro-democracy protesters."