Coronavirus: Hong Kong police reject claims they are stockpiling masks for officers
- Force expresses ‘indignation’ and ‘regret’ at opposition legislator who claimed it had hoarded 640,000 surgical masks and 13,000 N95 respirators
- It also complains to government-run TV station over satirical programme which made similar allegations
Hong Kong’s police force on Sunday rejected allegations that it had stockpiled tens of thousands of surgical masks and other gear to protect officers from coronavirus infection while doctors and nurses’ supplies run low, saying it only had enough masks to last a few weeks.
It also hit out at opposition legislator Kwok Ka-ki, accusing him of spreading misinformation, while asking the head of government-run media station RTHK to look into a TV programme aired on Friday, which included similar suggestions of police abuse of medical gear.
Kwok, in response, said he had only made comments based on what was reported in the news, while the RTHK Programme Staff Union accused the police of disrespecting the station’s editorial independence and professionalism.
Face coverings have become highly sought after since the contagion hit Hong Kong, with residents lining up for hours to replenish their supplies. Government supplies have also run short, including at stretched public hospitals.
At the centre of the row was a video that Kwok uploaded to his Facebook page on Saturday, in which he claimed that police had stockpiled 640,000 surgical masks and 13,000 N95 respirators, but still intended to take acquire 64,000 more of the face coverings in the next two months.