Last Saturday marked a year since the first pandemic lockdown in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei, China. And here we are again, exactly one year later, with the Hong Kong government enforcing a two-day lockdown of its own in the densely packed neighbourhood of Jordan to carry out mandatory coronavirus screening. Then on Tuesday, residential blocks in Yau Ma Tei were condoned off in an unannounced “raid” to prevent people from fleeing. And on Thursday, it was the turn of a North Point neighbourhood. So, what’s been the result of all this activity? Frankly, not much - 13 confirmed cases out of 7,000 tests in Jordan, 1 out of 330 in Yau Ma Tei and zero cases out of 475 in North Point. Many residents of the first two districts live below the poverty line. A high percentage are from ethnic minority groups. As the barriers came down criticism emerged over the handling of lockdowns in these districts marked by poverty where the authorities showed a marked lack of sensitivity towards non-Chinese communities. With us to discussion the issue are Jeffrey Andrews, social worker and Vice-chair of Unison, and Puja Kapai, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong and member of the Board of Directors of the Asian Migrants’ Centre.

Covid-19 has posed huge challenges for administrations around the world. Many countries have had to juggle implementing health measures while maintaining parliamentary and governmental work. In these circumstances there is always the danger that one of the first casualties of an all-encompassing crisis will be civil rights and civic freedoms. Last May, the United Nations warned of the need to safeguard civic space during the pandemic. “Now, more than ever,” it said, “the voices of people need to be heard.” Here in Hong Kong a key aspect of the Legislative Council’s work is to provide an opportunity for government officials and lawmakers to hear what ordinary citizens have to say in public hearings during committee meetings. But that has changed because of Covid.