🌊 Free Tide: COVID - Memory loss & depression?
New CUHK study suggests link between COVID and memory loss and/or depression
Good morning
We are back today with some pretty heavy news about potential COVID side-effects…but on the bright side there were 0 new cases on Monday!
I guess you can’t win them all.
~ Sze Yu
Hong Kong study shows recovered COVID patients struggled with memory loss and depression
Preliminary results from a Chinese University research team revealed a significant percentage of recovered COVID patients were having difficulties with memory loss and depression (paywalled).The study, which surveyed 128 Hongkongers, found that one-third of subjects had troubling remembering the names of friends and staying focused. Another third of subjects were found to have struggled with depression and anxiety after their infection.
“These are just preliminary findings, and the study is not complete yet … but we can say these findings are certainly unprecedented and unexpected.”
— Dr Arthur Mak Dun-ping, leader of the CUHK research team
Symptoms of forgetfulness and emotional disorders can be common in people who have just recovered from acute illnesses. Other experts have suggested that potential cognitive impairments could stem from the psychological and physical stress of fighting COVID-19. However, Dr Mak, who is leading the study, also noted that his early findings were different compared to those gathered in initial reports from other countries.
Not knowing the exact cause of the problem has made it difficult for doctors to treat patients facing these post-infection emotional disorders. Dr Mak recommended patients facing cognitive impairment to engage in “aerobic exercise combined with mind-body workouts like yoga or tai chi.“
COVID news
Coronavirus in Hong Kong
New cases: 0!
Total cases: 11,951 cases so far(88 active cases, 212 total deaths, 11,652 total recovered)
Hong Kong looks to ease COVID-19 flight ban to allow Hong Kong residents and workers to return (paywalled). Authorities are considering allowing fully vaccinated Hong Kong residents and migrant workers to return from countries currently subjected to COVID-19 flight bans. These countries include Indonesia, India and the Philippines, among others.
Hong Kong on track to hit home-building target by 2023
Chief Executive Carrie Lam has announced that Hong Kong has found enough land to meet its target of building 15,000 transitional homes by 2023(paywalled). The initiative aims to move people out of poor living environments, such as subdivided flats, while the wait for public housing.
The government plans to use temporarily available land or vacant premises leased by the government or private developers for transitional housing. In February, the more than 1,100 flats had already been completed and 2,400 others were under construction.
Limited land supply and unaffordable housing has been an issue that has long plagued the city – the waiting time for public housing has now stretched to 5.8 years, its longest point in more than two decades.
Other updates
The University of Hong Kong has taken down all protest posters from its “Democracy Wall“ and student council premises. The HKU students’ union executive committee has also resigned amid criticism from the school and the Security Bureau.
New World Development repurchased 3 million of its own shares for a total of HK $112.04 million on Friday in an effort to boost its stock price (paywalled). The property developer’s stock price plunged as much as 5.7% on Friday following news of its plans to demolish and rebuild two tower blocks at Pavilia Farm III due to concrete defects.
Hong Kong national security police have arrested five more people suspected of a ‘terrorist plot‘. The group are suspected to have been planning to launch a city-wide bombing campaign targeting transport infrastructure and court buildings, the police force said.
Chinese military accuses US destroyer of trespassing into Chinese waters. China claims that a US warship illegally entered waters near the Paracel Islands without approval. Despite last year’s international court ruling that Beijing has no claim over the South China sea, the waters surrounding island such as the Paracels remain hotly contested by China, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, the US, and Brunei.
A women and two children have died in a fire in a Tai Po subdivided flat. A man has been arrested for murder and arson after police discovered he stabbed the woman (his girlfriend) and her two children before setting the flat ablaze.
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