Hong Kong in the whirlwind of Covid-19, supermarkets robbed and justice suspended
Hong Kong overwhelmed by the Omicron variant and the “zero Covid” policy © La-Croix
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
In Hong Kong, the fifth wave of the epidemic continues to grow.
With more than 50,000 cases per 24 hours for three days, Hong Kong has surpassed the record for the highest daily death rate.
The health crisis is now being felt in many aspects of daily life, some cough and fever medicines are out of stock, supermarkets are increasingly empty and legal services have been suspended.
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Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Wednesday ruled out a "
citywide lockdown
" but the day before other officials had not ruled out such an option.
Across Hong Kong, panicked locals rushed to supermarkets to stock up, emptying shelves and causing shortages.
In normal times, it is difficult to get around in this cramped convenience store located in a working-class district, writes
our correspondent in Hong Kong,
Florence de Changy
.
Product crates usually clutter the aisles and the stalls are overflowing with fruits and vegetables of all kinds, local and imported.
But for more than a week, the store seems to be under construction: most of the fruit racks are empty and many canning shelves have also been robbed.
Mrs. Lam comes out of the store with her four-year-old son on a scooter and a bag filled exclusively with broccoli heads.
"
There is no choice,
" she says.
You can't buy what you want.
I have to cook with what I could buy.
The problem is the eggs, there is rarely any stock.
»
She heard like everyone else the rumor of a general confinement.
According to her, that's why there's nothing left, people are stockpiling.
But inside the store, the manager has another explanation: “
Our stocks are no longer sufficient.
And a lot of products are no longer imported into Hong Kong
,” she says.
In addition, of the thirteen employees in his store,
six are sick with Covid
and two or three prefer not to leave their homes.
Labor problems are also acute in the medical sector and in public transport.
A crisis situation such as Hong Kong has never experienced in its recent history.
Suspension of judicial services
The functioning of the judicial services was also suspended for one month.
Most of the hearings scheduled between March 7 and April 11 will be adjourned, so as to "
strike a balance between public health considerations and the proper administration of justice
", said the communication from the judicial services.
Hearings in progress and urgent requests are therefore not affected by the suspension.
Around 1,000 prisoners have tested positive according to authorities and local media have reported that judges have also been infected.
The financial center, renowned for its efficiency, is now under fire from critics.
More than 280,000 contaminations have been recorded in Hong Kong over the past two months, compared to only 12,000 since the start of the pandemic except for this period.
The city is preparing to test its 7.4 million residents three times in March and isolate each infected person
, including in prefabricated camps being built with help from China.
(with AFP)
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