With the strict pandemic restrictions in the city of Hong Kong due to the surge of Omicron Covid-19 cases here, I've decided to do a photography essay and a video project about how the city is dealing with the situation. Hopefully this gives you an idea how the city of Hong Kong and the Hong Kongers are coping with what's going on. You can also compare how this city is dealing with the pandemic in contrast with other cities in other countries. I do believe that the city is doing well. I would rather be here than anywhere else. I still feel it is the safest city compared to other cities in the world. Just look at the numbers. In Los Angeles, where I came from before I moved to live in Asia more than seven years ago, the deaths in just one day was 84 compared to 7 deaths only since February 11.
As a photographer and a filmmaker, I am trying to capture images and videos of what the mood is like in Hong Kong. Actually as soon as the fifth wave hit, suddenly Hong Kong became a little bit of a ghost town, especially at night. Usually Hong Kong is alive and crowded at night. Suddenly less people were out and about. But lately after two months of restrictions, it seems like people are getting tired of it as I see more people going out more in some neighborhoods. Well, that's just me. As for the rest of the world, in the US, it seems like the mask mandates have been lifted already despite the fact that there is still quite a large number of people dying from Covid-19. Actually in the US, the death rate is about to reach a million people.
I think somehow, just like the rest of the world, even though there are still a lot of people dying from Covid-19, not just the unvaccinated but even a few vaccinated ones, I think a lot of people are beginning to get sick of the restrictions such as mask mandate and social distancing rules and now ignoring the numbers. As for me, I trust the numbers more than the restrictions. Even if the restrictions are eased or lifted, I will look at the numbers. If I see that the numbers of infected and deaths are still quite high, then I would still do all the precautions needed not just to protect myself but also others by wearing a mask and keeping myself distance from people and other precautions.
Nevertheless, I still feel much safer here in Hong Kong compared to other places just because of the restrictions imposed over here. On the other hand, we still have a lot more freedom here .
Anyway as a photographer and a filmmaker, I don't want my words and text to tell what the mood is like in Hong Kong right now during this Fifth wave. I would rather let my photographs and moving images or videos to tell the story.