The Covid-19 has spread around the world over the past two years. The situation in Hong Kong has become appalling with the daily number of confirmed cases topping 10,000. The news is all about the pandemic. If it isn’t the lockdown of a housing estate, it’s about residents having to undergo mandatory testing, or about the the staff and residents in the elderly homes getting infected. Then there are the daily press briefings tallying the number of infected and deaths for the day. The whole city is gripped by fear and grief.
We are hemmed in by disturbing, negative information. The Hong Kong government has extended the closure period of 17 scheduled premises including public entertainment facilities, religious premises and beauty parlours. A vaccine pass also came into force on February 24. According to Prevention and Control of Disease [Requirements and Directions] [Business and Premises] Regulation and Cap. 599F which specifies the scheduled premises, those entering religious and catering premises, department stores, supermarkets, markets and so on must be vaccinated.
Faced with the pandemic and having to observe the new regulations, it isn’t hard to imagine the massive psychological and mental impact.
In July 2021, the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong, the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists and other institutions conducted a survey on Hong Kong’s mental health index.
About a thousand people aged over 15 of age were interviewed about their degree of happiness and relaxation. The survey found that the mental health index was below 50 over two consecutive years: 48.03 out of 100. A third of the interviewees indicated that they had been negatively impacted. The survey also found that the mental health index of those who maintained a physical social life, such as visiting families and gathering with friends, was higher than that of those who lived alone, remained at home or isolated themselves.
Due to the social distancing regulations, life has entered a new normal. Family gatherings are limited to two households. Only two people per table may dine at restaurants which must stop dine-in at 6.00pm. Large gatherings are suspended and as a result, interpersonal relationships are more distant. While we cannot physically meet friends, we can make video calls. When at home, we can read the Bible, say the rosary, actively participate in online Mass, receive the Eucharist spiritually, pray, give alms and care for our neighbours. Let’s spread the positive energy by being the salt and light on earth.
This Sunday is the first Sunday of Lent with the theme: “Trust.” As we face the epidemic, we may question why God does not stop it. In his Lenten message, Pope Francis invites us to repentance, conversion, and a change in mindset “so that life’s truth and beauty may be found not so much in possessing as in giving, not so much in accumulating as in sowing and sharing goodness.”
Lent invites us to be comforted by trusting in God, which does not exempt us from the troubles in life, but leads us into unity with God in Christ. God pours out his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit [Romans 5:1-5]. SE
