Coronavirus: Hongkongers’ online orders for masks cancelled as overseas suppliers report shortages

Hongkongers struggling to buy surgical masks in the city to protect themselves against the Wuhan coronavirus have also had online orders cancelled, as overseas suppliers reported a lack of supply.

The scramble for masks in Hong Kong continued despite the government revealing on Thursday that more than 32 million of them would be available for public use.

Among those left disappointed by cancelled orders online were three district councillors who were hoping to supply thousands of the facial coverings to residents.

Two Tuen Mun district councillors, Theo Lam Ming-yan and Kino Lam Kin-cheung, said that before Lunar New Year they had ordered a consignment of 12,000 masks from the United States, via a Hong Kong distributor.

“We were told that the order had been cancelled because of insufficient supply,” Theo Lam said on Thursday, adding he would try other ways of sourcing the items.

The pair, both members of the pro-democracy Labour Party, had planned to let residents buy the masks at cost price, after distributing thousands of the health products earlier this month.

They also wanted to provide masks to cleaners and security guards working for the government on an outsourced basis, who were not provided the protective gear by their employer, Theo Lam added.

Hong Kong confirmed on Friday its 12th case of the deadly coronavirus, which has killed more than 200 people in mainland China.

Napo Wong Weng-chi, a Central and Western district councillor, said his order of 200 boxes of masks from Britain was also cancelled for the same reason.

An earlier order of 100 boxes, however, arrived at a UK address and would be shipped to Hong Kong, he added.

Panicked Hongkongers told ‘millions of masks’ are coming as 12th case confirmed

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung on Thursday said 8 million masks would soon arrive for sale to the Hong Kong public from mainland China, while the delivery of 24 million more to city retailers was also being arranged.

University of Hong Kong medical expert Ho Pak-leung estimated earlier that Hong Kong could consume 300 million masks per month during the epidemic.

Meanwhile, Hongkongers who tried to buy the highly sought-after masks from several websites and outlets based in the US, Japan, Korea and Thailand said their orders were cancelled.

An office worker in her 30s, surnamed Chow, had her January 23 order of over 90 boxes of masks for her extended family and colleagues cancelled by Japanese site Dokodemo.

In an email the following day, the website said one mask product on Chow’s list of three could not be shipped, and that her whole order had been cancelled “due to issues related to payment”.

By the time she visited the website again, those products were sold out and others had gone up in price, leaving Chow and her husband at home with just 30 masks between them.

“Both of us have to work outside and cannot work from home, so we have to conserve and just use one mask each for 10 hours per day,” Chow said, adding it was impossible for them to queue outside pharmacies during office hours.

Hong Kong confirms 12th case of deadly coronavirus

Photographer Michael Chiu said his order of five packs of masks through a vendor on Amazon.com was cancelled without notification or explanation.

“My heart sank a bit when I saw the order has been cancelled,” Chiu said, adding he was now using masks he bought before Lunar New Year.

Chiu said the incoming shipment of masks from mainland China might help with the shortages, but he was worried about quality.

“People are concerned with specifications of the masks. You don’t know how many of the masks [from mainland China] can meet those standards,” he said.