Coronavirus: single mother uses same mask for five days as grass roots priced out of Hong Kong’s frantic panic buying or too weak to queue overnight
- Home visits with elderly citizens discovered some were steaming masks in order to reuse them, a practice that has been debunked
- Social workers union chief suggests temporarily closing non-emergency services to save masks
The practice, debunked by medical professionals, was found during home visits by social workers on Wednesday, who called for urgent government measures to ease the burden on elderly and low-income families during the shortages caused by the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Alice Chan, a single mother living in a subdivided flat in Tai Kok Tsui, said she had reused her only mask at home for five consecutive days.
“I hang it behind the door to get the moisture from its surface and use it on alternate sides every day,” she said. “I know it’s not good practice but I do not want to spend so much on overpriced ones.”
She said that despite being given five new masks from a church on Wednesday, she would continue to reuse each one until it got “too dirty” while the supply remained tight.
A 79-year-old man with heart disease and diabetes, also surnamed Chan, said he felt too tired to queue for hours nor could he afford masks that were selling for as much as HK$200 for a box of 50 at local pharmacies.
Living with his wife in a subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po, he said they had four masks left between them and no way to get more.
