Vegetable prices in Hong Kong continue to rise as Covid-19 cases among cross-border truckers force stricter testing requirements
- Transport union chief says about 40 to 50 trucks, mostly carrying vegetables, held up at mainland Chinese border
- Price mark-ups and limited supplies of vegetables observed among districts of Wan Chai, North Point, Sha Tin and Tai Po
On Monday morning, two truck drivers coming from mainland China’s Man Kam To control point tested positive for Covid-19, according to Chan Dik-sau, chairman of the Container Transportation Employees General Union. Another two were also reported to be infected on Friday and over the weekend.
As of 6pm on Monday, some 40 to 50 trucks, mostly carrying vegetables, were still stuck at the checkpoint as they waited for the authorities to disinfect a site for handing over goods, Chan said, adding that a number of truckers had been quarantined.
The union chairman said the incident could have an impact on supplies and create an “unstable” situation, noting that Hong Kong typically relied on about 100 trucks per day to keep the city stocked with vegetables.
“We are very concerned that if more of such incidents happen, everything will have to be stopped again because the [authorities] have to prioritise containing the outbreak,” Chan said.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch at the Centre for Health Protection, said that “some cases” of cross-boundary truck drivers were confirmed by authorities on either side to be infected, but did not provide a figure.