In Hong Kong, the coronavirus strikes a wounded city

HONG KONG >> Hong Kong has suffered through months of political protests. Its economy is shrinking. Mistrust divides its people from its leaders. Locals and expatriates alike already talk openly about leaving.

Now the coronavirus is dealing the Asian financial capital another devastating blow. Airlines are cutting service, isolating an international city from the rest of the world. Schools are closed. Panicked residents are hoarding rice, face masks and — in the latest run — toilet paper.

In the air runs a new emotion for a city where the glimmering skyline once seemed to promise riches and opportunity: fear.

“We don’t know when it will end or how much worse it will get,” said Amber Suen, a flight attendant with Cathay Pacific, the beleaguered Hong Kong airline that Wednesday asked its 27,000 employees to take three-week unpaid furloughs to save money.

Suen endured Hong Kong’s earlier problems, like the outbreak 17 years ago of SARS, which killed almost 300 people and briefly knocked the territory’s economy off track. This time feels different, she said, as Hong Kong endures political, economic and social crises all at once.

“During SARS,” she said, “people were still working together.”

The new coronavirus, which has killed hundreds and sickened thousands in mainland China, has been much less prevalent in Hong Kong. One person has died and at least 26 have been infected, mostly while traveling in the mainland. Its hospitals are respected around the world, and its grocery stores remain largely well stocked.

The world is not drawing a distinction, however, in part because the city has tightened but not fully closed the border with the mainland. As a result, people in this global city are feeling increasingly cut off.

The multinational companies that helped make this city global are restricting travel there. Some are advising or requiring returning employees to quarantine themselves. And getting to Hong Kong is becoming increasingly difficult: Virgin Australia on Thursday joined United Airlines and American Airlines in cutting service.

While the global reaction may be extreme, the threat can feel real in such a densely populated city, where apartments and offices are stacked on top of each other, sometimes 40 stories or more.

On Wednesday, managers of a Hong Kong skyscraper called Kowloon Commerce Center said someone who worked there had been diagnosed with the coronavirus. The building’s other tenants include Bank of America, Swiss bank UBS, phone giant China Mobile and international shipping companies.

The sudden isolation only adds to the economic pain. For months, anti-government protesters have filled the streets to demand that the pro-Beijing government give them greater say in how the city is run and to protest the Chinese government’s growing sway. Violence and tear gas already scared away many mainland tourists and business visitors.

Jewelers, luxury retailers and cosmetics shops that catered to mainland tourists are closing outlets. Restaurants have closed, and hotel rooms are vacant. Unsurprisingly, unemployment is on the rise.

Other factors make Hong Kong more vulnerable than it was during SARS 17 years ago. China back then was still developing and growing by double digits, and it needed Hong Kong’s money and expertise. Today, China’s growth has matured, and many companies no longer use Hong Kong as a gateway into the world’s No. 2 economy.

More fundamentally, many Hong Kong people no longer have faith in their government to make the right decisions.

“We’ve been double-hit by social unrest and a government that is just disappointing,” said Paul Yip, a professor and director at Hong Kong University. “They don’t know how to deal with unrest, and they don’t know how to handle the virus.”

Citizens had already grown nervous about their government. Hong Kong is a semi-autonomous Chinese region with an independent legal system and guaranteed individual rights, but its top leadership is selected by a process controlled by Beijing.

Many in Hong Kong fear the growing power of the mainland Chinese government in the city’s affairs, especially after the high-profile disappearances of people wanted or disliked by Beijing, with little reaction from city officials. The tensions boiled over late last spring, when Hong Kong’s leaders tried to pass legislation that would allow extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China, where the justice system is controlled by the Communist Party.

City leaders backed down, but by then, clashes between demonstrators and police had become increasingly violent. Hong Kong’s population became frustrated as city officials dismissed evidence of excessive police violence. Angry voters dealt their leaders a sharp rebuke in November, when pro-democracy candidates swept elections for lower-level offices.

Now that mistrust of the government is spilling over into anger about the response to the outbreak.

About 7,000 medical workers have gone on strike, demanding that Hong Kong fully close the border with the mainland. The union, the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, which was formed during the protest, said the striking members represented about 10% of public hospital employees. Workers on Friday voted to end the strike.

Small explosions have been set off in some places, the latest on Tuesday in a public restroom near a public housing complex. Online, people claiming responsibility have demanded a closure of the border.

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s top government official, has resisted calls to completely close the border with the mainland. Instead, she has introduced a series of steps that have cut arrivals. Her critics said those moves are not enough.

Even Hong Kong’s pro-government leaders have signaled dissatisfaction with Lam as the economy continues to reel.

On Hong Kong’s streets, where nearly everybody but smokers and expatriates were wearing face masks, the mistrust of the government took the form of rumors and panic buying. Rice and vegetables disappear quickly, though shelves get restocked quickly, and supermarket chains said they have adequate supplies.

After rumors circulated that China had forced toilet paper manufacturers to make face masks, toilet paper this week disappeared from supermarket shelves. Local shoppers snatched them as they were delivered to shelves and filled their carts with big packages of rolls.

Dairy Farm Group, which runs the Wellcome supermarket chain, said the rumors were false and that it was “working closely with our suppliers to provide sufficient and diversified choices of products to our customers.”

As city leaders offered assurances, residents rushed to buy face masks. Early morning lines in front of pharmacies have become a familiar sight, as have signs declaring that supplies are out. On Thursday, a group of Hong Kong physicians told reporters that their clinics might have to close some days if they do not have enough.

“My patients ask, ‘Doctor, can I get 10 masks from you?’ ” Douglas Chan, a general practitioner, said. “I tell them, ‘Sorry, I don’t have enough either.’ “