Home from Home | I avoided Covid in Hong Kong. Now back in the UK, my luck has finally run out – and it’s not fun at all
- After three years avoiding Covid-19 in Hong Kong and then not catching it in over a year back in the UK, I began to think I was immune. Now, reality has dawned
- The virus has barely been a subject of conversation since returning to Britain, but concerns about it are beginning to emerge again
My last three years in Hong Kong were spent trying to avoid catching Covid-19 or, at least, being carted off to the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre, otherwise known as Stalag PB.
Much to my surprise and largely thanks to the many limitations on daily life we all had to endure, I succeeded. But I expected to catch the virus immediately on my return to Britain in August 2022, where I went from zero-Covid to zero-restrictions.
Somehow, my luck held. Living in the countryside must have helped. But I did make regular forays into London. I began to believe I was immune.
Now, the inevitable has happened. After three years of fearing, cursing and avoiding Covid-19, I have caught it. Reality has dawned.
I woke up one morning and couldn’t face getting out of bed. Everything ached. I had shivers, a sore throat and a cough.
Most people here don’t bother to get tested. Free tests are no longer available. A lateral flow test costs £2 (US$2.40). So people generally soldier on, telling themselves they have a cold. This, of course, is a good way of spreading the virus. Unlike in Hong Kong, hardly anyone wears a mask.