Hong Kong video showing double masked schoolchildren playing the flute draws ridicule

‘This is the extent to which Hong Kong is scared of Covid,’ one person wrote

A Hong Kong advertisement showing school children wearing double masks while playing the flute has drawn ridicule on social media.

The ad, which was released by Hong Kong’s education bureau ahead of China’s National Day on 1 October, is a five-minute long video in which more than 400 schoolchildren from 41 high schools participated.

The video shows various children performing a variety of artistic activities, including singing, calligraphy, martial arts, and musical performances.

At the 45-second mark, the ad shows two double-masked schoolgirls playing the flute side-by-side.

Many social media users mocked the ad by saying that double masking “isn’t necessary”.

“This city never fails to surprise me,” SCMP correspondent Jeffie Lam wrote on Twitter, adding the hashtag #maskingtilltheendoftheworld.

Another person added: “This is the extent to which Hong Kong is scared of Covid.”

This ad comes after Hong Kong declared that Covid limitations, such as social withdrawal and the wearing of masks in cars and certain public places, will be in effect until at least 5 October.

Earlier this year, due to China’s “zero Covid” policy, parents in Hong Kong were being separated from their babies who tested positive for the coronavirus infection.

Ava, an 11-month-old baby who tested positive for the virus, was isolated and admitted to a hospital with a fever and laboured breathing.

Despite being in the same city, her parents Laura and Nick weren’t allowed to visit her at Hong Kong’s Queen Mary Hospital.

“We’re just helpless. We are really helpless. This is not in the best interest of her that she’s without us. She needs us and we need her,” the mother told CNN in February.

The couple could manage to share a quick video call with Ava and requested the nurse in attendance to give “her some comfort”.

She added that her daughter was aware of the surroundings and her separation anxiety was at an all-time high.

During that time, several parents took to private groups on social media platforms such as Facebook to criticise hospitals for prohibiting parents from staying with their children.