To each their own

Most Hongkongers still kept their masks on when going to school and work on the first day of the mask-free era, with some adopting "flexible masking" by pulling the covering down under the chin outdoors and then up again over the nose and mouth indoors.

Authorities from yesterday lifted the mask mandate and no longer required people to cover their faces outdoors, indoors or on public transport, marking the end of more than three years of Covid curbs.

People need to wear masks only in hospitals and care homes.

But The Standard saw that at least seven in 10 people on the streets were still masked, and nine in 10, or up to 19 in 20, covered their faces on an MTR train on the Kwun Tong Line.

Office worker Lau was one of the maskless passengers. He said Covid has already become endemic in Hong Kong and he could not understand why authorities dropped the mask mandate only now.

He added: "It's just a formality now. It's meaningless and uncomfortable. I don't know why people are still torturing themselves.

"It felt weird at first as I haven't felt a breeze on my face for so long. But it's good to be able to finally get some fresh air."

Female passenger Choi said she wore her mask under her chin when she left home yesterday morning, but she pulled it up to cover her nose and mouth before going into North Point MTR station.

"I call it flexible masking, ha ha. Pull down when there are not so many people, or when I feel stuffy. But I can cover my face in a split second when I enter a crowded and confined space," she said. "It's like having the best of both worlds."

But housewife Chan kept her mask on. "People are coughing and sneezing on the street and MTR. I don't want to get germs and viruses," she said. "Plus, I've still got at least a dozen boxes of masks at home, enough for my entire family to wear for a year. We will try to use as much as we can for now, and wait until outbreaks have further died down."

Authorities reported 107 positive PCR test results from laboratories yesterday. Hong Kong has recorded 7,347 positive PCR reports since January 30.

The latest flu surveillance data from the Centre for Health Protection said 57 cases were reported in the week from February 12 to 18, and 46 the week before.

The number was zero for the whole of February last year, when Hong Kong battled the fifth wave.

The vice chair of the Hong Kong aided Primary School Heads Association, Polly Chan Shuk-yee, said schools no longer required teachers and pupils to wear masks on campus, but more than 90 percent of students still kept their face coverings.

"It's exam period now. I believe that's why parents asked their children to keep their masks on, so they won't get sick during the test period," she told a radio program.

At Ying Wa College in Sham Shui Po, out of 10 boys, only one or two students took their masks off.

Government pandemic adviser Ivan Hung Fan-ngai said ditching masks will help students establish natural immunity, although he admitted Hong Kong may see a rebound of upper respiratory tract infections.

But respiratory specialist Leung Chi-chiu said young children, especially those below six, have never been exposed to the flu virus, and he recommended parents make their children wear masks for a little longer.

Hong Kong Disneyland yesterday welcomed its first maskless visitors since the pandemic.

jane.cheung@singtaonewscorp.com

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