Hong Kong: where the show goes on and betting turnover defies Covid gravity

When Covid-19 first began to make headlines around the world in December 2019 and January 2020, few racing jurisdictions will have felt such an immediate need to take action as Hong Kong.

As well as its geographical proximity to the original outbreak in Wuhan, China, there was the collective memory of how Hong Kong society had faced the challenges of previous mass health episodes.

In 2003 the city lost 299 people to Sars, while Hong Kong also suffered from outbreaks of H1N1 avian influenza in 1997 and further back there were epidemic cases of flu in 1957 and 1968.