Hong Kong (AFP)
Long queues formed Thursday in front of several pharmacies in Hong Kong, whose residents, traumatized by the memory of the SARS epidemic in 2003, were looking at all costs to get masks in the hope of protecting themselves of the new coronavirus.
The former British colony had been severely affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome, which had killed 299 people there. And people were quick to react this time to the appearance of the new virus last month in Wuhan, mainland China.
Only ten cases of this new disease have been confirmed in Hong Kong, but almost all Hong Kongers have already opted to wear the mask in public transport, but also in the open air.
The streets of the metropolis of southern China are also particularly deserted, while the government has multiplied the announcements to prevent gatherings conducive to the spread of the disease.
If most of the shops are shunned by customers, pharmacies are however taken by storm by residents hoping to grab the last boxes of surgical masks.
Thus in the dormitory of Tseung Kwan O (east), hundreds of people were patient Thursday morning outside a pharmacy which, like many others, limited the sales of masks to a box per person.
"Whatever the length of the queue and the sale price, I will buy enough for myself," said Tam, a 26-year-old woman who only gave her name, to AFP. family.
Like many of the patients, she did not hide her resentment towards the Hong Kong executive.
"I am not happy with what the government is doing to stop the epidemic. It has not closed the border with mainland China, and there is a shortage of masks on the market."
The semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong has refused to close the border with mainland China, as requested by part of the opinion. However, the executive has closed six of its 14 land crossing points with the country.
Michelle, a 17-year-old student, said she waited over an hour to buy a box of masks.
"I hope it will be enough for a month. If I don't have enough masks, I will have to stay at home."
© 2020 AFP