Lawrence Yu feared for life after contracting Covid-19 and spending 15 days in hospital – ‘I thought my time had come’
- The 75-year-old Yu praises Hong Kong’s public health system and the medical workers who helped him through a difficult time
- He says he contracted the coronavirus during a dinner, with six people from the gathering testing positive
Hong Kong sporting stalwart Lawrence Yu Kam-kee said he thought “his time had come” when he was admitted to hospital in November after contracting Covid-19.
“I have never been sent to a public ward for treatment and when the doctor there told me I was among the high-risk group of patients because of my age and many other chronic diseases, I was shocked,” said Yu, a former Football Association chairman and now governor of the Automobile Association in charge of motorsports. “I thought my time had come and maybe I would not have a chance to leave the hospital.”
Like many other people, the 75-year-old high-profile businessman said he failed to take the disease seriously, even though he still observed standard precautions such as wearing a mask in public and washing his hands regularly. He said he rarely used public transport, with a chauffeur usually driving him around the city.
“Despite the pandemic, my life still went on as usual: going to the office every day, meeting friends in different gatherings, engaging in a social life, but all of a sudden, without warning, I became one of the victims,” Yu said.
He said it happened at a dinner gathering of friends, including the ex-wife of billionaire Peter Lam Kin-ngok, Hsieh Ling-ling, and i-Cable chairman David Chiu Tat-cheong and his wife. Yu and Lam are a former management team of the Hong Kong national side, who defeated China 2-1 in a Fifa World Cup qualifier in Beijing in 1985.
