Greetings from boy next door at COVID-19 isolation facility in Hong Kong: patient's diary 2

Editor's note: China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has been fighting its worst wave of COVID-19 infections since the outbreak of the pandemic. A mainland-aided community isolation facility (CIF) located in Tsing Yi started admitting its first batch of COVID-19 patients in Hong Kong on March 3. The facility, completed within just one week, is capable of accommodating about 3,900 asymptomatic or mildly ill patients.

A resident in Hong Kong hospitalized at the facility presents the first-person experience of how he -- along with his new neighbors -- feels at the facility.

HONG KONG, March 12 (Xinhua) -- On the third day of my stay in the Tsing Yi community isolation facility, I woke up to find a new message on my phone. It was from my neighbors, a local family of three, who had already left when I saw their message.

"You were sleeping when we knocked at your door, so we left without saying goodbye. Here are some drinks for you, wishing you a speedy recovery!" The message read.

I felt happy for their recovery, and started reminiscing the happy memories we shared in the past two days.

"It's okay, you don't have to be scared." This was the first thing Xiaoyu, the little boy of the family, said to me when we first met.

He greeted me and tried to comfort me as he noticed that I was moving into the facility in a hurry. We were not allowed to visit each other's room, but we could chat at the open areas in front of our doors.

Xiaoyu and his family started developing symptoms for COVID-19 in late February. First it was Xiaoyu, then his parents. The three had fevers and various symptoms showing up one by one, all of which were more severe than the ones I had developed in the past two days. They said they recovered a few days after.

Later the HKSAR government conducted a compulsory testing in the neighborhood they live in. Although they had already recovered, they still tested positive in their PCR tests and were classified as asymptomatic.

The family packed their clothes and necessities and moved into the Tsing Yi facility without any complaints. Up until Thursday, I still saw them wearing the plastic wristbands showing that they were undergoing compulsory testing.

Whenever the weather was good, Xiaoyu and his parents would come out of their room to stretch out, asking about me or other neighbors when we met. Worried that his son would play too much video games if he kept staying inside, Xiaoyu's father was happy to see him having a chat with me outdoors.

Since I can only understand but not speak Cantonese, Xiaoyu and his parents tried their best to speak Mandarin with me. Occasionally Xiaoyu would translate for his parents. I was impressed when I found out that he studied in a school in which Chinese classes were taught in Mandarin-- no wonder he is so fluent in Mandarin!

Xiaoyu is only nine years old but he is already able to talk eloquently about a wide range of topics, from current affairs, geography, aviation, to animals and plants.

He is particularly fond of Ferrari sports cars and his favorite subject in school is general studies. From our conversation, I could see that he has a quite broad scope of knowledge. He is also a sensible child as he politely rejected other children when they asked to come and visit.

"I think I was infected by my grandfather because I visited him a few days before my onset. He got sick afterwards too." Recalling the first few days when his COVID-19 symptoms started to show, Xiaoyu was very calm and kept asking me how I was feeling. In the past two days, Xiaoyu was the first person to greet me every morning when I opened the door.

Xiaoyu and his parents not only cared about me, they cared about my family in Hong Kong as well. Even though most of the people staying in the mainland-aided isolation facilities were local Hong Kongers, I, coming from the mainland, genuinely felt that we were connected by our roots. It was such a wonderful feeling.

Xiaoyu has a wish -- he has never been to the mainland and wants to go there for a visit. "When the epidemic is over, I will definitely take you to visit the Bird's Nest and Water Cube in Beijing," Xiaoyu's father promised, stroking his son's head.