Carrie Lam on Tuesday urged the people of Hong Kong to calm down after residents began to hoard en masse. Entire supermarkets were emptied due to the threat of a complete lockdown.
According to local media, the government plans to introduce mandatory corona tests from March 17, which could lead to people being forced to isolate themselves.
Lam, the city’s chief executive, called on the public to keep the peace. According to her, no one needs to worry about possible shortages. “It is important to follow the information provided by the government and not to rely on rumours,” said Lam.
Hong Kong is said to plan to test the city’s 7.4 million residents three times in nine days, according to the Sing Tao newspaper, with the government recommending that people stay at home during that period. The newspaper relied on unidentified sources. Exceptions would be made for buying food and medical treatment, the paper said.
Lam emphasized at an earlier stage that there will be no complete lockdown for the city.
There was also massive hoarding in the Netherlands at the start of the corona crisis. There was a huge shortage of toilet paper at that time. But pasta, canned food and paracetamol were also piled in shopping carts for fear of running out.
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