Hong Kong retail chains ration staples to curb COVID panic buying (updated)

Hong Kong Technology Venture Co

04/03/2022 05:53

(Adds latest infection statistics)
    By Donny Kwok and Twinnie Siu
    HONG KONG, March 4 (Reuters) - Two of Hong Kong's largest
consumer retail chains started rationing some food and drug
items on Friday to curb panic buying that has plagued the city
over the past week amid fears of a citywide lockdown as COVID-19
cases soar.
    Health authorities reported 52,523 new COVID-19 cases on
Friday and 136 deaths. This compares with about 100 infections
at the start of February and a clean three-month streak of zero
cases before the end of December.
    It was the third consecutive day that the number of cases
topped 50,000. The spread has limited available manpower in the
health care system, and for public transport, mall operators,
supermarkets and pharmacies.
    Supermarket chain ParknShop announced limits of five items
per customer on staples such as rice, canned food and toilet
paper, while pharmacy Watsons put the same limits on medication
for pain, fever and colds. 
    "Effective today, ParKnShoP and Watsons Hong Kong will
impose purchase restrictions on selected products and medication
at all stores," Watsons said in a statement.
    Both ParknShop and Watsons are units of the Hong Kong listed
conglomerate CK Hutchison  0001.HK .
    On Wednesday, ParknShop announced shorter opening hours,
with some of its 200 branches shutting at 3 p.m. - by which time
many shops across the Asian financial hub have been stripped of
fresh and frozen meat and vegetables in recent days.
    Mall operator HKTV  1137.HK  said in an exchange filing on
Friday that 20% of its "frontline manpower" was in quarantine.  
    Hong Kong officials have repeatedly urged people against
panic buying this week, saying supplies were adequate.
    Amid public complaints of confused official messaging, Hong
Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said her government had no
plan for a "complete lockdown" while it plots compulsory testing
of the city's 7.4 million residents.
    The government would announce details of the plan when
finalised, she said.
    The surge in cases and fears of a lockdown have sparked mass
departures of people from the city, where authorities are
clinging to a "dynamic zero" policy that seeks to eradicate all
outbreaks at all costs.
    Hong Kong saw a net outflow of more than 71,000 people in
February, the most since the beginning of the pandemic,
according to government data, compared with 16,879 in December.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2V61AK
    On the other hand, bans on flights from nine countries
including the United States, Britain and Australia are in place
until April 20, leaving some residents who had left temporarily
stranded, unable to get back in.
    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
the city's international reputation had been "very damaged" and
alarm had been created by the confusing messages.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2V51Z0
    Hong Kong has reported about 400,000 cases of COVID since
the coronavirus emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late
2019 and some 1,500 deaths, far fewer than many other cities.
Most infections and deaths were recorded in the past month.

 (Reporting by Twinnie Siu and Donny Kwok; Writing by Greg
Torode and Marius Zaharia; Editing by Robert Birsel and Kim
Coghill)
 ((greg.torode@thomsonreuters.com; 852 6749 4661;))