The number of surgical masks was reduced more than 50% after 1 day. (Image Souce: CitizenNews)

#Newspaper

Mystery of stock level of PPE in HA 2/4

A frontline medical worker indicated that the HA’s HR app had a specific item for dispersal of information regarding the Wuhan pneumonia. Among the information was a document dated 6 Feb (version 2.9) provided by the Chief Infection Control Officer Office. The document listed the HA’s enhanced measures, including a 90-Day Contingency Stock of PPE. The document mentioned daily monitoring of its usage by HE. A list of reserves updated on Jan 27 included goggles/eye shield, face shield, surgical masks, N95 respirators, disposable isolation gowns, disposable examination gloves, and disposable caps were listed on tables.

However, the HA had not informed frontline staff the existence of such document via emails. "A lot of frontline staff are likely unaware of its existence." A medical worker admitted that he would not have known that it could be accessed through the HR App without his colleagues from the Hospital Infection Control Team reminding him. The lack of communication may have to do with the strike by frontline staff. The HA may be purposely deceiving or concealing information from them.

A comparison of PPE stocks between version 2.9 (updated on Jan 27) and 2.3 (Jan 10) showed no change over the 17 days. Previous information indicated an additional 8 confirmed cases between Jan 10 and Jan 17; 110 people were hospitalised as of Jan 27. It can be deduced that a considerable amount of PPE should have been used during this period.

Source: CitizenNews

#Coronavirus #HospitalAuthority
#PPEStockLevel

⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ Figures below
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/17494

A comparison of PPE stocks between version 2.9 and 2.3 showed no change over the 17 days. (Image Souce: CitizenNews)

#Newspaper

Mystery of stock level of PPE in HA 3/4: How is it possible that updated figures in the 90-Day Contingency Stock of PPE be exactly the same as a previous version from two weeks ago? Was it because the HA could replace supplies in a timely manner? Or did the HA not disclose the actual figures to their staff? Did the HA truly fail to accurately grasp the latest quantities of PPE?

HA did not reply to HKCNEWS’ enquiry on this matter other than to repeat Dr Deacons Yeung's statement that PPE usage rose significantly after the Lunar New Year due to an increase in infected cases; there were 2.2 million protective gowns and 16 million surgical masks, and that the amount should be sufficient for a month's usage. The HA indicated that it was closely monitoring the stock level of supplies. They immediately raised inventory targets to meet six months' usage when experts warned that the epidemic may last for some time. The HA has been speeding up orders and increased order quantities to replenish and increase its stores.

However, the HA didn’t provide concrete figures of PPE despite three separate requests from HKCNEWS via email since Feb 3. (Note: Chief Executive Carrie Lam has mentioned at numerous press conferences that the HK government had difficulty obtaining masks because of the "global shortage" in supply chains. Other HA and FHB bureaucrats repeatedly dodged questions by LegCo legislators and district councillors regarding the sufficiency of medical supplies at public hospitals.)

Legislative Councillor (Medical) Dr Pierre Chan has requested the HA publish the stock level of surgical masks and N95 respirators at different public hospitals from the beginning of January but has yet to receive a response.

Source: CitizenNews

#PPEStockLevel #HospitalAuthority
#PublicHealthSystem #Coronavirus

#Newspaper

Mystery of stock level of PPE in HA 4/4

Michael Felix Lau Hoi-man, an officer from the Hong Kong Allied Health Professional and Nurse Association and also a public hospital nurse, considered that the information about the stock level of PPE in HA’s old version Communication Kit was already inadequate and even erroneous. HA should improve by providing more accurate information. Instead, they delete the PPE stock data in their new communication kit. It is a fall back in terms of information transparency. “In previous versions, the breakdown of different items of PPE were listed out but in the current version, they delete the tables altogether. This suggests that the HA never meant to be transparent and truthful about sufficiency of PPE.”

Ivan Law Cheuk-Yiu, the vice-chairman of the HAEA and a surgical nurse at the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, believed that just providing HK PPE figures was insufficient. Individual regional networks, like the Hong Kong East Cluster, have been more transparent by providing information on daily usage and daily stock reserves of PPE. Staff was more informed of the high and low usages on any particular day.

It is also understood that Kowloon Central and Hong Kong East Clusters recently announced PPE quantities to their staff but other clusters do not. Some hospital networks only divulge this data to middle and senior ranking staff. Most frontline personnel are not privy to PPE stock level from their corresponding cluster. Mountaintopism* exists among different HA hospital cluster networks. They have their own ways of handling things within their own networks. Although individual hospitals and their networks do inform their staff of PPE stock level, when individual hospital’s managerial and leadership hold meeting to discuss and disclose the information is inconsistent. There is no standardised procedure for dispatching information across different hospital clusters. "Can the more transparent clusters push other clusters to do better?" Law questioned.

*Mountaintopism is an old communist Chinese derogatory metaphor. It describes the tendency to regard one's region of governance as their property instead of their responsibility.

Source: CitizenNews

#HospitalAuthority #FailedSystem

⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ Comparison below
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/17497

According to the latest update (Feb 10) uploaded by Chief Infection Control Officer Office, Contingency Stock numbers no longer exist as part of the enhanced measures.

Source: CitizenNews
https://bit.ly/2SA6Uyr
https://bit.ly/2OWI6P5

Due to the nature of how the COVID-19 virus spreads, almost everything in key virus-hit areas run the risk of being contaminated by people who are infected with it. People are worried that the virua could be mutating to thrive in new environments that it previously could not thrive in. That is why bank notes have to quarantined and sanitized before it gets redistributed and used.

#coronavirus #banknotes #quarantined

Full story:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-15/china-quarantines-cash-to-sanitize-old-bank-notes-from-virus

Further more:
https://twitter.com/CriticalCezanne/status/1229096309677641728?s=09

#Newspaper

Behind the Chinese government’s "Citizen Heros" propaganda, the inescapable reality

"What is happening now is caused by economic pressure." "Am I afraid? Of course I do. I am afraid to see my wife. I am also afraid to visit my parents and my son in my hometown. However, if I don't work, I will be losing 130 Yuan everyday."

Currently, China has already locked down more than 80 cities due to the spread of coronavirus. As the citizens' freedom of movement got restricted, food delivery drivers, peer to peer ride-sharing drivers, and civil servants, become crucial in people's life. They are famed as  "Citizen Heros" on Chinese media, "providing sunshine, warmth and protection in the journey of epidemic prevention and control."

However, these "heroes" are actually full of helplessness. Many of them are from the countryside. They usually carry huge burdens from rents and mortgages and normally are the main source of income for the family. This is the real reason why they became "heroes" in people's eyes during the epidemic. 

They are risking their life to work without proper epidemic prevention supplies. A delivery man lamented: "Everyone is making money with their lives!"

Further reading:

Source: The Reporter
https://bit.ly/2P0GPq9

#LifeAsGrass #Chinesepropaganda #Economy #WuhanPneumonia

The NBA is still feeling the effects in China from Daryl Morey's support of Hong Kong

The relations between NBA and China seems to remain tense, despite Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's backing down from his Tweet support of pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong.

Government-run China Central Television (CCTV) still does not broadcast a single game of NBA this season, with Chinese media conglomerate Tencent not offering its customers the subscription to the full NBA slate. Those actions of disapproval by Chinese stakeholders might have costed financial loss for the NBA teams. However, the outbreak of coronavirus might be a turning point of the relations between China and NBA which has pledged US$1.4 million to support relief efforts in China’s Hubei province.

#NBA #China #HongKongprotests
#SharpPower

Further more:
https://sports.yahoo.com/the-nba-is-still-feeling-the-effects-in-china-from-daryl-moreys-support-of-hong-kong-204534766.html

#OpenBorders #PrincessDiamond
PRC Nationals on Princess Diamond Cruise to Be Evacuated With Hong Kong Citizens to Hong Kong

PRC nationals on the Diamond Princess Cruise, currently docked in Yokohama, Japan, will be evacuated with Hong Kong citizens on the charter flights provided by Cathay Pacific arranged by the Hong Kong government. In other words, PRC nationals who were passengers of the Princess Cruise will not be sent back to Mainland China, but will enter Hong Kong with other Hong Kong citizens on board.

The latest arrangement, which has never been disclosed by the government and instead released by the PRC Embassy in Japan, further dismayed the local population in Hong Kong, in addition to the fear of community outbreak, supply shortages of medical protective equipment, and the lack of transparency of the Hong Kong as well as the PRC governments.

The first charter flight will take off on Feb 20 at 01:45 in Japan. As of Feb 19, there are 621 confirmed cases of Wuhan pneumonia on the cruise.

Although the flights would be provided by Cathay Pacific and the evacuation plan was carried out by the Hong Kong goverment, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam openly reiterated her appreciation to the PRC Embassy in Japan for arranging coaches to transport the passengers to the airport in Tokyo.

Despite many countries having issued ban to prohibit PRC nationals from entering, the Hong Kong government had insisted to leave the borders between Hong Kong and China open.

Image: https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/17502
Source: Stand News; RTHK

#Feb19 #ChineseEmbassy #Japan #GlobalOutbreak #ChinesePneumonia #FailedState

#DiamondCruise #OpenBorders
PRC Nationals on Princess Diamond Cruise to Be Evacuated With Hong Kong Citizens to Hong Kong

This arrangement has never been disclosed by the Hong Kong government and instead released by the PRC Embassy in Japan.

The first flight will take off on Feb 20 at 01:45.

Although the flights are run by Cathay Pacific and the evacuation plan was carried out by the Hong Kong goverment, Hong Kong CE Carrie Lam openly reiterated her appreciation to the PRC Embassy in Japan for arranging coaches to transport the passengers to the airport in Tokyo.

As of Feb 19, there are 621 confirmed cases of Wuhan pneumonia on the cruise.

Despite many countries having issued ban to prohibit PRC nationals from entering, the Hong Kong government had insisted to leave the borders with China open.

Read more:
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/17501

Source: Stand News; RTHK

#Feb19 #Japan #ChineseEmbassy #GlobalOutbreak #ChinesePneumonia #FailedState

#FirstHand #Feb20
Organizer Encourages Participants to Join Trade Unions

1855 | Admiralty
One of the MCs said, ”If the citizens and the government cannot rebuild this city, then the relationship between the civil servants and the citizens will be greatly affected. Hence, we must stand together, and walk together. We should join the trade unions, and never forget all that has happened despite the relative peace in these few months."

#FirstHand #Feb20
Civil Servants Distribute Feedback Cards

1859 | In order to reduce the gathering time, new civil servants distributed feedback cards on the spot to allow colleagues and citizens write their opinions and submit it whenever they are ready

#FirstHand #Feb20
IT Industry Union Chairman Urges Participants to Join Unions

1903 | The chairman of the Hong Kong IT industry union, Alex, took the stage to express his dissatisfaction, which can also be seen in the attendance of the rally, despite the epidemic. He urged everyone to join the unions. The crowd then shouted, "Support the three-way strikes".

#FirstHand #Feb20

Government Solely Responsible if Covid-19 Outbreak Happens in HK

1908 | Mr Leung works at the Drainage Services Department. He stated that every building has a network of pipes and sewers. One pipe, however, is used to collect sewage. He pointed out that both Wuhan Pneumonia and SARS are airborne viruses. He expressed his hopes that citizens will continue to stand in solidarity with the frontline medical personnel and warned residents of any buildings in Hong Kong to be prepared for an infection by the novel coronavirus due to government mismanagement.

Finally, he pointed out to the government, saying that if there were to be an outbreak in Hong Kong, there is no one to blame, but the government. Citizens should sue the government if that happens.

#FirstHand #Feb20
Despite the Coronavirus outbreak and the cold weather, HongKongers' determination of fighting for freedom still persists.

#FirstHand #Video #Feb20

1945 | Admiralty Centre
Officers in riot gear stopped and searched citizens at Admiralty Centre, including a First aider. They were later released.
#PoliceState

#Newspaper

Complaints against Teachers’ Facebook Posts Cleared by Schools
Education Bureau Charged Professional Misconduct Anyway

(10 Feb) Since the Anti-Extradition Movement, more than 100 teachers were accused of professional misconduct by the Education Bureau of the HKSAR Government (EBHK). Most of the them shared Anti-Extradition news on their personal Facebook pages with privacy setting that limited both students and parents, and they did not express their personal views on the posts. The schools received numerous anonymous complaints with screenshots on such posts. Even though the schools found the teachers to be innocent, EBHK punished them by rejecting the schools’ investigation reports. Around 107 complaints were completed, 42 of which were found innocent. EBHK took disciplinary actions on 32 cases, including issuance of 10 reprimand letters and 3 warning letters. EBHK also verbally warned and issued warning letters to 10 and 9 teachers, respectively.

Chow was one of the teachers who received disciplinary actions. He had considered the appeal, but was worried that he would lose teaching qualification if he did, so he gave up on the thought. Afterwards, he also re-examined the FB friends list and reduced sharing or commenting on the news. He described the incident as white terror, like “thought censorship.” IP Kin-yuen, a member of the Education Legislative Council who assisted in following up on Chow’s case, criticized the Education Bureau for “abusing the charge of professional ethics violations, and restraining teachers’ thoughts and suppress freedom of speech.”

Most of the teachers worried about their jobs and dared not appeal against the EBHK, even with monetary support and encouragement from Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union.

#WhiteTerror #Cersorship #FreeSpeech

Source: The Stand News
https://bit.ly/2Hzotbv

Further reading:
The NBA is still feeling the effects in China from Daryl Morey's support of Hong Kong
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/17500