Explainer | Hong Kong lockdown: vendors at city’s main fruit market fear they could be next after Covid-19 cases rise in area

Name: Hong Kong coronavirus lockdown: 10,000 people confined as police cordon off part of Yau Tsim Mong
Uploaded: 2021-01-26T02:00:10.000Z
Duration: 3 min 2 s
Description: Hong Kong coronavirus lockdown: 10,000 people confined as police cordon off part of Yau Tsim Mong

Government considering move at Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market on cusp of Lunar New Year

Neighbourhood around market, which has operated on the corner of Waterloo Road and Reclamation Street since 1913, has had 60 infections recently

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The wholesale fruit market at Yau Ma Tei. Photo: May Tse

Zoe Low

Published: 10:00am, 26 Jan 2021Updated: 5:28pm, 26 Jan 2021

Concern among vendors at Hong Kong’s main wholesale fruit market in Yau Ma Tei has deepened after news emerged that the government could lock down the area just ahead of Lunar New Year, as coronavirus infections there have increased in the past week.

Located just one MTR stop from Jordan, where authorities imposed an unprecedented Covid-19 lockdown in the heart of the busy Yau Tsim Mong district last weekend, the area around the Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market has seen more than 60 infections recently.

The rise in cases prompted a government adviser to call for another lockdown, one that would encompass the market, on Sunday.

Here, the Post looks at how the coronavirus has affected the market and its colourful history.

03:02

Hong Kong coronavirus lockdown: 10,000 people confined as police cordon off part of Yau Tsim Mong

1. Why the fuss about a lockdown?

Yau Ma Tei district has recorded 68 infections so far, with more than 20 buildings affected. On Sunday, Chinese University respiratory expert Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, who also advises the government on the pandemic, called on authorities to monitor the situation there.