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 The SARS-CoV-2 epidemic came after months of tumultuous
anti-government protests that had already led to a sharp increase in
depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), they said.
It also touches on fears of the 2003 SARS epidemic, which killed
nearly 300 people in the city.
"Hong Kong is in a unique position, due to changes to our routine,
previous months of social unrest and deep memories of SARS," said
Carol Liang, an executive at Mind Hong Kong, a mental health charity
in the former British colony.
A University of Hong Kong survey found that a third of adults in the
special administrative region reported symptoms of PTSD, up from 2
percent in 2015, while 11 percent reported depression, up from 2
percent during the Occupy protests in 2014.
Since January, tens of thousands have been working from home, many
cooped up in tiny apartments, while the stockpiling of basic food
and cleaning products has become common.
Children stuck at home must grapple with online learning while many
families, particularly the poor, are unable to get protective gear.
"Hoarding tissue, bags of rice, are measures to cope with the
anxiety rather than fulfilling needs of daily life. They are
hoarding way beyond their only needs," said Eliza Cheung, a clinical
psychologist at Hong Kong Red Cross.
Hong Kong has about 100 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and has
reported two deaths.
A mental health hotline the government opened in January has
received about 25,000 calls, authorities said, while voluntary
groups have sprung into action to help counsel people, particularly
those quarantined at home.
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"We have everyone calling from the entire spectrum, elderly from the nursing
home to teenagers. We are just trying to hang onto each day as it is at the
moment," said Karman Leung, chief executive of Samaritans Hong Kong, a local
non-governmental organization that assists people in distress.
Low-income residents have been particularly hurt by a deepening slowdown in Hong
Kong's economy, battered by protests and the Sino-U.S. trade war.
The Society for Community Organisation (SoCO), a local organization that works
on poverty alleviation, said 70 percent of poor families can't afford masks and
disinfectant.
Authorities have pledged cash handouts to residents and tax breaks to
businesses. Last week, the city's finance secretary unveiled measures to
allocate "sufficient resources" to help with mental health problems.
Some residents remain optimistic.
"This virus, I thought it came at a good time, where we are so divided.
Hopefully it will bring us together again. Each one of us hopefully trying to
fight this disease," said Derek Au, 46, a Hong Kong resident.
(This story deletes extraneous word in paragraph seven.)
(Reporting by Farah Master; additional reporting by Aleksander Solum in Hong
Kong. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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