Panic buying continues amid confusing lockdown info

Hong Kongers continue to strip shop shelves bare on Wednesday morning following mixed messages from the government over whether it plans a mainland-style hard lockdown this month.

Photos circulating on social media this morning showed people are still having trouble finding a variety of items including meat, vegetables, frozen food, noodles, toilet rolls and medicines.

One netizen said the supermarket on Johnston Road in Wan Chai has failed to restock its shelves after the panic buying yesterday night.

“Most of the shelves were still empty when I arrived at the shop early this morning at around 9am,” the netizen wrote.

Others also said they were like ants going home, grabbing a bit at one spot at a time, not knowing what is still available for sale at each supermarket.

Speaking on a radio program this morning, Thomas Ng Wing-yan, chairman of the Hong Kong Food Council, said there is no need for citizens to hoard food.

He said the city’s food supplies are stable and suppliers have already increased frozen meat imports to cope with the shortage of fresh meat supply due to the temporary closures of slaughterhouses in Sheung Shui and Tsuen Wan due to Covid infections.

He also said most supermarkets in Hong Kong are currently short staffed due to employees contracting the coronavirus or having to undergo compulsory quarantine, with the supermarkets unable to restock the empty shelves this morning.

On Wednesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor defended the government over "confusing" messages sent to citizens. She said the government never planned to lock down the whole city or sealing it off from traffic, and it still maintains the same view now.

Authorities will improve in the dispatch of information to reduce citizens' anxiety, she said. 

Read more: Government urges residents spooked by citywide lockdown not to panic

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