The Wall Street Journal: “Masks Could Help Stop Coronavirus. So Why are they still Controversial?”

In Asia, the majority of people voluntarily use face coverings and it is mainly Western expatriates who are reluctant to adopt them, said Prof. Yuen Kwok-Yung, a leading coronavirus expert who advises the Hong Kong government.

Hong Kong, with 7.5 million residents, is one of the most densely populated places on earth, but recorded only six deaths from Covid-19 despite having no lockdown and receiving nearly three million travelers a day from abroad, around half of them from mainland China, where the virus originated.

The key secret of Hong Kong’s success, Prof. Yuen said, is that the mask compliance rate during morning rush hour is 97%. The 3% who don’t comply are mainly Americans and Europeans, he said.

The only thing you can do is universal masking, that’s what stopped it, Prof. Yuen said.

Bojan Pancevski & Jason Douglas

Another article published in a major newspaper that starts from a biased premise and blatantly ignores facts that contradict it. The statements above are clearly false (either taken out of context by the journalists or misinformation spread by the quoted ‘expert’), as there have been multiple reports about other measures taken in Hong Kong to contain the coronavirus pandemic: aggressive testing and tracing, stricter border controls and screening of incoming travelers, followed by mandatory 14-days quarantines under threat of fines and six-month imprisonment.

There is no single perfect solution to stopping a disease from spreading, and this type of magical, ‘things are either black or white’, thinking will not help us move forward. The authors – and their editor – should stop and reflect on the hypocrisy of criticizing governments for offering confusing advice, while they as journalists publish an article omitting critical information and presenting half-truths as unquestionable facts.

Update: 10 days later: Hong Kong ordered gyms and bars to close for a week, restored strict limits on public gatherings and introduced fines for anyone refusing to wear a mask on public transport in a fresh bid to prevent the resurgent coronavirus from spiraling out of control.