Baby formula supply stable, says health secretary

Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man said on Tuesday morning that the baby formula supply was stable over the first days of the New Year holiday, but demand would probably pick up after the holiday ends.

Local mothers had complained recently that they could not find baby formula in Hong Kong stores, after parallel traders bought up supplies in bulk for resale on the mainland.

In response, the government recently introduced restrictions on the amount of formula that parallel traders were allowed to take to the mainland and it created a hotline to ensure that local mothers were supplied with the formula.

The hotline had received more than 5,000 calls since the beginning of the month when it was set up, Ko said, but it was no longer available 24 hours a day since it received “very few calls” in the middle of the night.

The government would monitor the situation closely and be vigilant against parallel traders, he said.

In response to reports that two people had been infected with bird flu in Guiyang, Guizhou province, Ko said the Centre for Health Protection was communicating with the mainland’s health ministry on the matter.

The two flu patients were last reported to be in critical condition. They apparently did not pass the virus between them or have contact with birds before developing the symptoms.

The Guiyang area did not supply Hong Kong’s chicken farms, Ko said, and there was no need at the moment to raise the bird flu alert level.