Description
Within the field of public health, there is now considerable evidence that trust is a key variable in determining the outcome of a range of health challenges. Over the past three years, this evidence has been applied to a range of single and multi-country studies on the implementation of pandemic mitigation policies. Frequently these policies focus on positive examples, where higher levels of trust were correlated with more successful efforts to stem the impact of the pandemic. But what about in societies where there is low trust? Hong Kong entered the pandemic after nearly six months of increasingly violent protests and riots against the government and yet, despite being on the frontlines of the pandemic, Hong Kong has come through the last three years with one of the lowest per capita death tolls of any jurisdiction. This paper uses qualitative and quantitative data from a large-n survey as well as documentary analysis to explore this apparent contradiction. Along the way, it unpacks the different types of trust (institutional, medical, and social) that collectively shaped behaviour during the pandemic. It will be shown how Hong Kong has managed to mitigate the pandemic despite an initial and ongoing low trust environment.
