Health

Steve Vines: Does Hong Kong’s quarantine centre need to be quite so hellish?


Cell, or rather Room, 173-02, has no bars on the windows and in theory – but only in theory – you can open the door and exit, except that the option of exit is strictly forbidden without permission.

To enforce compliance an all-seeing CCTV surveillance camera keeps a careful eye on the doors. Next to it are loudspeakers poised to bark orders at inmates making an unauthorised exit or even timorously stepping outside the door. Hazmat-suited operatives emerge at remarkable speed to chastise offenders who peek out.

Stephen Vines and his room in the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre. Photo: Stephen Vines.

Welcome to the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre built at breakneck speed to accommodate 3,500 modular units and even more inmates in maximum discomfort. I know about the discomfort because until earlier this week I had the misfortune to be there. 



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