So the World Health Organization has declared H1N1 as a pandemic, which prompts questions of whether the fears over it are justified or a panicky over-reaction. I didn’t elaborate on the H1N1 precautions in Hong Kong in my earlier post, so let me say here that while they’re not exactly in a panic over it, it’s obvious enough that they’re taking it a lot more seriously than most people in Malaysia. Posters urging the public to take health precautions are everywhere and every time we used the subway, we were constantly bombarded by warnings and advice about respiratory diseases over the public announcements system.

One particular precaution that we found novel was placing hand sanitizers in many public areas. They seem to dispense some sort of alcohol-based disinfectant that you’re supposed to use regularly. Since the substance just evaporates, it won’t leave your hands slimy or wet. Many surfaces that you might expect members of the public to touch on a regular basis, such as escalator handrails, elevator buttons and even seats in public waiting areas had signs indicating that they’re disinfected on a regular schedule. Obviously all these measures take quite a bit of effort and money to implement, which means that they need to be justified on a cost-benefit basis.

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