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Explainer | Hong Kong Covid-19 third wave: do you need to wear a mask if you exercise outdoors … or should you exercise at all?
- Unlike in Singapore, mask-wearing exceptions do not apply to people who want to work up a sweat outdoors
- Experts urge fitness enthusiasts to stay home or tone down activities while still wearing masks, as physical exertion with face coverings may lead to breathing problems
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Hong Kong expanded compulsory mask-wearing rules to cover all public areas, as part of the strictest social-distancing measures unveiled by the government on Monday.
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“Residents should wear masks to protect themselves and everyone around them,” Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said at an afternoon press conference announcing the ramped-up rules.
The new regulation will take effect on Wednesday and is set to last a week. Currently it is only compulsory to wear masks at public indoor venues.
Andrea Fraser, 32, who plays football for Kitchee SC’s women’s team, said the new mandate was “incredibly frustrating for athletes” and that under the coming rule, she did not plan to exercise outdoors.
“In the summer, Hong Kong gets incredibly hot and humid. It’s already super uncomfortable when I’m walking at a normal pace. I can’t even imagine running or doing sprints as part of a football training workout … I would be dying,” she said.
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“I think people are either not going to exercise as much or will just put up with it … even though it’s not ideal.”
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