Bilingual Editorial: Lesson to learn
雙語社評:鴕鳥心態誤抗疫 「疫輪」教訓須記取
文章日期:2020年3月20日

雙語社評齊齊聽

[英語 (足本收聽)] Presented by Dr TAO, Wei-yi Kimberly, Lecturer of School of Professional Education and Executive Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

[普通話 (足本收聽)] Presented by Dr CHOI, Wai-yuk, Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

 

The 14-day quarantine enforced on the Diamond Princess, the epidemic-stricken cruise ship moored off Japan, has come to an end. Passengers who have not shown symptoms have been allowed to leave the ship in batches. Experts, however, are worried that there might be ''hidden patients'' among them who might spread the epidemic further. As the outbreak on the Diamond Princess has got out of hand with echoes of Amoy Gardens in 2003, the Japanese government's responses have been much criticised. Equally worrying is the emergence of confirmed cases with unknown sources of infection in different regions of Japan. Some experts even argue that the government might have covered up the real situation of the outbreak because of the Olympic Games in the coming summer. An ostrich attitude, a carefree mindset and a failure to tackle a problem are often the greatest reasons for the escalation of a crisis. Both the outbreak of the epidemic in Wuhan and Hebei and the case of the Diamond Princess have magnified the problems when government officials fail to discharge their obligations, shirk their responsibilities, lose their sensitivity and neglect their duties. All sides must learn from this in a serious manner. The international community does not have clear guidelines or agreements concerning how to handle an epidemic-stricken cruise ship. Facing the threat of the epidemic, all countries must step up cooperation and support each other.

[ENG audio 1]

Quarantine should be an effective measure for the prevention of the spread of an epidemic. But what has happened on the Diamond Princess has shown the opposite. While the Japanese government has reiterated that its responses are appropriate, the severity of the outbreak on the cruise ship shows that its work against the epidemic has been a definite failure. The quarantine arrangements have been slow on the cruise ship, with only 300 people undergoing tests at the beginning. It was only later when the inspection was expanded. The Japanese government defended by saying that it had been hindered by the lack of test kits. However, the government delayed seeking external help and it was days later when it sought assistance from private organisations.

[ENG audio 2]

Though the quarantine on the cruise ship has ended and passengers will leave in batches, the crisis is far from over. Many experts argue that as the outbreak on the ship kept happening, the possibility of there being some ''hidden patients'' cannot be ruled out. They say that it is unreasonable to let these people go and allow some of them to choose to continue to walk free in Japan, as there might be risk of them spreading the disease. Currently there are more than 80 cases in Japan domestically. There has been an outbreak in hospitals as well as several cases whose sources of infection remain unknown. Some of the patients have not been to China.

[ENG audio 3]

Early this month, the Japanese authorities still stressed that the epidemic was under control domestically. The Japanese people were not very vigilant, as big events like a marathon went ahead as usual. Only recently have the authorities changed their tune and said that the outbreak has entered a new stage. They are calling on citizens to avoid going to crowded places.

[ENG audio 4]

It is common for a crisis to lurk for a certain period of time before its full explosion. Whether things will deteriorate rapidly often depends on whether the authorities face the reality early on. This is not directly related to political systems or cultural differences. The epidemic in Japan is definitely not comparable to that of Wuhan in scale. Some people argue that China and Japan's responses have demonstrated the failings of East Asian systems of governance and reflected the differences between Eastern and Western cultures. To be fair, however, it was precisely the ostrich attitude of the respective authorities and their avoidance of problems for a long time that had caused the subprime mortgage crisis in the US more than a decade ago and the debt crisis in Europe.

[ENG audio 5]

鴕鳥心態誤抗疫 「疫輪」教訓須記取

停泊日本的爆疫郵輪「鑽石公主」號,結束14天檢疫隔離,沒有病徵的乘客獲准分批離開,專家擔心當中存在「隱形感染者」,可能令疫情擴散。「鑽石公主」號疫情失控,猶如2003年淘大翻版,日本政府處理備受批評;日本多地出現源頭不明病例,同樣令人憂慮,有專家甚至質疑,當局為了今夏東京奧運隱瞞疫情。鴕鳥政策、掉以輕心、迴避問題,往往是導致危機加劇的最大原因,由湖北武漢爆疫到「鑽石公主」號,均突顯了官僚失職失責麻痹疏忽,各方必須認真汲取教訓。國際社會對於如何處理爆疫郵輪,並無清晰規定或協議,面對疫症威脅,各國必須加強合作互相支援。

[PTH audio 1]

隔離檢疫理應是防止疫症蔓延的有效措施,然而「鑽石公主」號的情况卻相反。日本官方再三強調「應對恰當」,惟以郵輪爆疫之嚴重,防疫工作無疑是失敗。日方郵輪檢疫處理遲緩,初期只安排300人接受測試,後來才逐步擴大檢查範圍。日本政府辯稱受限於檢測配套不足,惟當局遲遲未尋外援,多天後才找私人機構協助。

[PTH audio 2]

雖然郵輪檢疫隔離結束,乘客分批離開,然而不代表危機結束。不少專家質疑,船上疫情爆不停,不排除有「隱形感染者」,在這種情况下「放人」,容許部分人選擇繼續在日本「自由活動」,存在播毒風險,做法不合理。目前日本境內已錄得逾80宗病例,既有醫院爆疫,亦有多宗源頭不明病例,當事人未有去過中國。

[PTH audio 3]

本月初,日本當局仍強調國內疫情受控,國民普遍未有太多防範,馬拉松等大型活動如期舉行,直至近日當局才改變口風,表示疫情進入新階段,呼籲國民避免人多場合。

[PTH audio 4]

一場危機由積累到大爆發,往往有一段醞釀期,事態會否急轉直下,往往取決於當局有否及早面對事實,這跟政治體制又或文化差異,並無必然關係。當下日本疫情,與武漢的規模當然不能相提並論。有人認為中日應對疫情,突顯東亞治理體系缺失,折射東西方文化差異,惟平情而論,10多年前美國次按風暴金融海嘯,還有歐債危機,何嘗不是當局採取鴕鳥政策、長期迴避問題的結果。

[PTH audio 5]

明報社評2020.02.20