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Editorial | No masking fact that lot more remains to be done in virus crisis
- Although the government was alerted to the coronavirus threat weeks ago, no efforts were made to secure an adequate supply of face masks until recently and the city is now on the brink of a community outbreak
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Hongkongers have a penchant for queuing up for almost everything. From properties and collectibles to discount products and gifts, there are always crowds hunting for the best bargains. But the latest scramble for surgical masks goes beyond what’s in their DNA.
Compounded by an acute shortage of supply and officials’ ill-preparedness for the onslaught of the deadly coronavirus, the deepening crisis is posing grave challenges to public health and the government’s authority.
That so many people have been scurrying from shop to shop in a desperate search for face masks and disinfectants is lamentable. Ways to reuse or procure the badly needed products – some turn out to be scams – continue to flush social media; meanwhile, the tens of millions of masks promised by the government are still unavailable.
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This sorry state of affairs makes a case to explore whether masks should be made reserved goods for better regulation under the law. But the priority now is to ensure adequate supply, especially for frontline medical officers, cleaners and others who are vulnerable. Earlier, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor wrote to the State Council urging such a supply of masks for Hong Kong. But yesterday she conceded the procurement bid had failed.
Stop wearing masks to save supplies during virus outbreak, Lam orders officials
Further confusion arose when Lam ordered civil servants who were not sick or not doing frontline services to avoid wearing surgical masks. The ban is a well-intentioned step to save them for medical staff, but it suggests government usage could have been more prudent. The appeal for others to follow suit also gives the impression the government has put people’s health at risk and made a U-turn on the needs of wearing masks because of undersupply.
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