Supermarkets short of staff -but not stuff

Supermarkets are seeing empty shelves for the third day in a row mainly because of a lack of staff who can refill stocks, not because of a shortage of supply, an association head says.

Hongkongers resumed their panic buying yesterday following mixed messages from the government over whether it would impose a lockdown during the citywide compulsory testing.

Ng Wing-yan, chairman of the Hong Kong Food Council, said on radio yesterday he does not agree with panic buying, which is based on speculation, adding that it is unnecessary.

"If the government really is going to do this [lockdown], I believe it should responsibly inform all people of the details of the arrangement on buying necessities and other necessary services," Ng said.

"Furthermore, according to the information I have, the supply of goods is very sufficient so it's unnecessary to do that [panic buying]."

Ng said some supermarkets may have manpower issues as their staff or household contacts have been infected, so the shelves are not being refilled, while some transportation and warehouse workers have also been infected.

News photos and pictures circulating on social media showed people were still having trouble finding a variety of items, including meat, vegetables, frozen food, noodles, toilet rolls and medicines.

One online user said the supermarket on Johnston Road in Wan Chai failed to restock its shelves after the panic buying the day before. "Most of the shelves were still empty when I arrived at the shop early this morning at around 9am," the comment said.

Extremely long queues were seen outside Aeon stores as people rushed to stock up on groceries on the chain's Wednesday discount day.

At the Tseung Kwan O Plaza outlet, people lined up inside the mall's atrium before the supermarket opened. At its Kornhill outlet, the queue even extended outdoors.

Some people were worried about cross-transmission inside the supermarkets, while others said it was even more crowded than the Flower Market before the Lunar New Year.

Aeon announced earlier that it will shorten the opening hours of many of its stores starting today. Some will close as early as 8.30pm.

Yata supermarket said the food and goods supply in its stores is stable and it has sped up to refill stocks on shelves. It earlier said it will close all nine branches at 8pm every day due to manpower arrangements and for cleaning and disinfection of the shops.

Furniture chain Pricerite also shortened its stores' business hours from 11am to 8pm from yesterday, and said online orders in some districts could be delayed due to quarantine measures.

Meanwhile, 38 mainland butchers arrived in Hong Kong to help with operations at the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse. They will stay in Hong Kong for two months to help alleviate the manpower shortage. But wholesalers said Covid infections have also hit transportation and buyers, and fresh pork may not be delivered to local wet markets.

Fresh meat supply in the city has been scaled back as two slaughterhouses in Sheung Shui and Tsuen Wan were temporarily closed from Saturday midnight due to infections of staff.

Tsuen Wan Slaughterhouse reopened on Sunday but it could only provide about 300 pigs, while the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse has yet to open.

Around 150 local people work at Sheung Shui slaughterhouse, but only 40 of them can return to work.

Pork Traders General Association chairman Hui Wai-kin said with the help of mainland butchers, the local pig supply can resume to a minimum level of about 1,800 to 2,000 pigs a day.

He expected fresh meat supply in Hong Kong to gradually resume normal starting Sunday.