Hong Kong retail chains ration staples to curb Covid-19 panic buying
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
HONG KONG (REUTERS) - Two of Hong Kong's largest consumer retail chains started rationing some food items and medication on Friday (March 4) to curb panic buying that has plagued the city over the past week amid fears of a citywide lockdown as Covid-19 cases soar.
Supermarket chain ParknShop announced limits of five items per customer on staples such as rice, canned food and toilet paper while the pharmacy at Watsons stores put the same limits on medication for pain, fever and colds, Hong Kong media reported.
On Wednesday, ParknShop announced shorter opening hours, with some of its 200 branches shutting at 3pm - by which time many shops across the Asian financial hub have been stripped of fresh and frozen meat and vegetables in recent days.
Both ParknShop and Watsons are units of the Hong Kong listed conglomerate, CK Hutchison.
Hong Kong officials have repeatedly urged people against panic buying this week, saying supplies were adequate.
Amid public complaints of confusing official messaging, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said her government had no plan for a "complete lockdown" while it plans compulsory testing of the city's 7.4 million residents.
The government would announce details of the plan when finalised, she said.
The authorities reported a new daily record of 56,827 new infections and 144 deaths on Thursday, an exponential rise from about 100 in early February.
<p>Customers wearing masks shop in front of partially empty shelves at a supermarket during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Hong Kong, China February 28, 2022. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu</p>
PHOTO: X02605
The surge in cases and fears over a lockdown have sparked mass departures of people from the city, where the authorities are clinging to a "dynamic zero" policy that seeks to eradicate all outbreaks.
Many restaurants and shops are shuttered, while its Central financial district is eerily quiet and few people are out in normally bustling neighbourhoods.
Highlighting growing public frustration, prominent businessman and government adviser Allan Zeman said on Tuesday that Hong Kong's international reputation had been "very damaged" and alarm had been created by the confusing messages.
<p>Customers shop for produce at a supermarket in Hong Kong, Feb. 28, 2022. Vegetable prices have soared, but the Hong Kong government has offered limited cash relief. (Billy H.C. Kwok/The New York Times)</p>
PHOTO: NYTNS
