#MaskShortage
Medical Staff Suspected of Stealing Masks and Gloves

Police received a report from staff members of Princess Margaret Hospital at about 6:23 this evening (January 31) that 14 surgical masks, 22 N95 masks and some surgical gloves went missing in a ward. It was suspected of being stolen by a 56-year-old female staff member surnamed Wong.

Source: Stand News
#Jan31 #GlobalOutbreak #ChinesePneumonia

#Newspaper

Elderly man passed out after 3 hours in queue for mask
Carrie LAM’s 70-yo supporter: government failed people’s basic needs badly

(7 Feb) Surgical masks keep running out! Government keeps refusing to help! A convenient store announced today to give out 100,000 masks (5 per person) to Hong Kong residents aged 65 and above at 20 designated locations. An elderly man came alone and passed out after staying in line for 3 hours. Store staff gave 5 pieces to him before he was sent away by ambulance. This shows how desperate Hong Kongers have become as they see masks more important than everything else.

A 70-year-old woman criticized the government for failing to handle even basic works properly. “I used to trust Carrie LAM very much and understood her hardship as a female Chief Executive. However, I am extremely disappointed at her and her administration,” said the old lady. She called out the shortage of mask and rice in Hong Kong, and wished the government would distribute masks and close the entire borders.

A housewife Mrs. LIU thought former Chief Executive Donald TSANG would have done a better job on epidemic control than Carrie LAM, who just absurdly instructed people to not wear masks for prevention. Mrs. LIU’s family members each needed to wear the same mask for 3 to 4 days, padded with a piece of tissue for replacement every day.

Mrs. LEE, a resident of Ma On Shan, said she had only few masks for herself and 4 other family members. “I won’t keep any mask for myself, and will reserve for those who go to work,” said Mrs. LEE.

In Tsing Yi, an elderly man in wheelchair lined up with his wife. As they had only 2 masks left, they avoided going out in order to minimise the usage. Fortunately, each of them got 5 pieces from the convenient store, even though enough to last a few days only.

Another 81-year-old Ms. CHOW had biscuits for breakfast while in queue. She had no time to eat because she just came back from a regular check-up at a hospital, and had to get some masks now because she had none at home.

A 64-year-old Mrs. LAI said her husband might need to stop going to work if she couldn’t get any today. “We need to apply for social welfare assistance from the government afterwards,” said Mrs. LAI.

Despite having sufficient masks for her family, a 73-year-old elderly kept searching for more in the market every day. She stayed at home on the previous 3 days to cut back. The old lady said angrily that the government was totally unacceptable and not working for the Hong Kong people.

Source: Apple Daily
https://bit.ly/2UAiGdJ

#DesperateForMask #MaskShortage

#Newspaper

Fragrant Harbour may become Stinky Harbour! Government owes janitors masks and wages & threatens layoff

(6 Feb) Among the labour sectors, the cleaning service industry is hit the hardest by the mask shortage. The Environmental Service Contractors Alliance (Hong Kong) said about 10% of firms in the industry had run out of masks. Some frontline workers even needed to re-use theirs for a few days and described the situation as “very critical.” The Alliance had already written requests to Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of the HKSAR, earlier for allocating more masks. But no reply so far. Some outsourced contractors even said the Government had owed them wages for months. The Alliance warned the Government to immediately look at the problems of mask shortage and late payments. Otherwise, a “suspension of cleaning services would eventually commence.” Then Hong Kong [the Fragrant Harbour] would become the “Stinky Harbour.”

The Alliance comprises more than 3,000 firms, hiring about 250,000 frontline workers and contributing about 80% of the industry workforce. It provides cleaning services for streets, public toilets, shopping malls, parks and estates. It is estimated that each frontline worker needs at least one mask per day; and, for those of higher risks, 2 to 3 pieces. The entire industry will need 350,000 masks per day and approximately 2.5 million per week.

Continue reading:
https://telegra.ph/Government-owes-janitors-masks-and-wages--threatens-layoff-02-09

Source: Apple Daily
https://bit.ly/2SA19Ql

#CleaningServiceIndustry #MaskShortage #OwedPayment #FailedState

#Newspaper

Pharmacy sells Vietnamese masks at $380 per box of 50 pieces and claims to be powerless against the expensive import price

(10 Feb) Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, a member of the Executive Council and the chairperson of the New People’s Party, disclosed that the government was exploring legislation on the regulation of import and retail of disease prevention tools including masks, so that price hikes are prohibited. A pharmacy in Mong Kok is selling Vietnamese masks at $380 per box of 50 pieces. Mr Chan, the manager, said that the high price was a result of the inability of many South-Asian countries to continue their supply, so that the supply volume was 90% less than normal. The import price was also 6 times higher, such that one box of masks costs around $300. He described himself as very helpless too. He thought that the government should liaise more with suppliers to ensure the supply. Mr Wong, manager of another pharmacy, claimed that the current import price of masks was at least $200. Coupled with the fact that Hong Kong retailers no longer have any stock, and that overseas import is often held up by the customs, the supply is very unstable. Regarding the possibility of the government to regulate the import and retail of disease prevention tools, Mr Wong said that pharmacies now suffered price hikes in its importing price, so that a high price would surely follow. The government should ensure the supply of the relevant products first.

Source: RTHK
#FailedState #MaskShortage

#Newspaper

Woman in 70s lined up 2 hours for 5 masks; Deleted photo with Carrie Lam on the spot: Very disappointed

(10 Feb) As the novel coronaviruses epidemic continues, it becomes hard to buy masks in Hong Kong. Galaxy Engineering Group today distributed 10,000 masks for free in Tai Kok Tsui. Each person was allowed to get 5 pieces, totalling to 2,000 persons.

Ms. Chan, a 70-year-old suffering from chronic illnesses, was wearing a raincoat, sunglasses, and a mask in line. After queuing for 2 hours, she finally got 5 masks. “It's exciting! The first time!” She said, about 2 weeks ago, she went to Watson’s to wait in line to buy masks. However, even though she arrived at 7 am, there were more than 50 people waiting at the scene, and she couldn't get any after three hours.

Ms. Chan said that she was very disappointed with Chief Executive Carrie Lam, and she showed reporter a photo she took with Carrie Lam in 2017. She confessed that, when Carrie Lam was planning to run for the Chief Executive, she had high hopes for her. But now citizens have to wait in long lines and even pay high prices for masks. “Never thought that she is the worst among all the chief executives we have had!” After saying that, she deleted the photo on the spot. “People threw away Alan Tam’s CDs, and I deleted her photo... setting aside politics, she is even unable to provide basic needs for people.”

She said that, even during the SARS epidemic in 2003, she was still able to go out to dine, and never needed to queue up for masks. Even after SARS, she still had two boxes remaining, and eventually she was able to donate them to others. But now she has to reuse her mask for 2 days, “Very disappointed!”

One of the citizens who got the masks said not many masks were left at home. Since his wife had to go to work, he could only reuse the masks and put paper towels on them. “Once at home, use a hairdryer to dry them.” He said that he has also lined up for masks many times before, and sometimes even needed to queue for 4 hours. “It’s better than getting money! I can’t buy masks even I want to buy them!”

Source: HK01
https://bit.ly/2T0hZrR

#FailedState #MaskShortage CarrieLam

#Newspaper

Distribution quotas exposed - Police given 640 thousand masks, and taking 40 times more N95 masks than Department of Health

(15 Feb) While there is only one-month’s stock of equipment for frontline medical staff, the HK government is still refusing to disclose how the supplies are being used. The Apple Daily received documents showing that the police ranks second in number of surgical masks distributed, coming after the Department of Health. In the first round, they were provided with over 640 thousand surgical masks, and they were given the most N95 masks among all departments. Legislator and former doctor Kwok Ka-ki criticises the government for distributing the disease control supplies unfairly, with medical staff who actually contact patients lacking medical N95 masks and protective clothing, while the police is given large amounts of high standard supplies. “It is a complete waste of resources and public funds, and it’s exhausting the already scarce supply of protective clothing,” he says.

Continue reading:
https://telegra.ph/Distribution-quotas-exposed---Police-given-640-thousand-masks-and-taking-40-times-more-N95-masks-than-Department-of-Health-02-16

#Selfishness #PrivilegedClass #PoliceState #MaskShortage #UnfairSuppliesDistribution

#Newspaper

Self-help in the time of coronavirus

(11 Feb) The ongoing spread of the novel coronavirus epidemic has triggered such a shortage of face masks that even the Hong Kong government has difficulty finding suppliers. While Chief Executive Carrie Lam urged the people to inform the government of avenues for obtaining face masks, citizens have been independently purchasing them for direct distribution to those in need.

Actor Chapman To bought 30,000 masks, of which 10,000 were sent to households of low-income families and singleton elderly at Cheung Hong Estate. The rest would be given to the Association of Hong Kong Nursing Staff for further distribution to the families of medical personnel and the chronically ill. "Carrie Lam is our Chief Executive in name only. She failed to take responsibility for the health of Hongkongers. We learned to rescue ourselves. Who cares about what she says? It is all pointless."

To criticised Carrie Lam for failing to protect Hong Kong people. He said Hong Kong's hard-earned achievements were ruined by "the Chinese Communist Party. But Hongkongers will not be defeated because we hold dear our spirit and core values. We shall overcome the epidemic together. Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times! Glory to Hong Kong!"

Author Daisy Wong also announced that she had bought 3,000 masks from Austria with the help of a reader. She would sell them at HK$5 each to those with fewer than 10 masks on hand or healthcare workers. "Please let other people buy first. . . . Each person can buy one box only." She stated, "I am doing this just to say — do not resign to our fate. They want us to die but we will thrive. We must live to witness the end of Carrie Lam."

She encouraged, "Do not forget that since June of last year, Hongkongers have been fighting for justice. Combatting the virus and combatting tyranny are the same. I hope Hongkongers can be more united than ever to show the world the spirit of our resistance. Do not lose heart, let's move forward together!"

Source: Stand News
https://bit.ly/2vLdOrB

#SelfHelp #FailedState #MaskShortage

#Newspaper

(16 Feb) In response to the domestic shortage of masks, the South Korean government issued a new administrative order put into effect last week. Those leaving the country with more than 1,000 masks or other relevant goods worth more than 2 million KRW must now declare them at customs. Violators may be imprisoned up to two years or fined 50 million KRW.

After the order's implementation, the Korea Customs Service seized a total of 730,000 undeclared masks. Most of them were en route to China and a majority of the offenders came from China.

Over the past week, the Korea Customs Service reported 72 cases of outbound masks excess of the customs allowance, all of which were intended for China. They found that many of the exports did not report accurate quantities and that some were counterfeits trying to pass as the "KF94" Korean standard.

Source: Stand News
https://bit.ly/2VuoF4n

#MaskShortage #Korea

#PanicBuy #Shortage
Coronavirus Outbreak in China Triggers a Mad Rush for Face-masks Worldwide

As the coronavirus pandemic ensues in China, citizens, merchants and government officials alike are on a mad rush for face-masks. As of Feb 20, 2020, China has imported 50 million yuan worth of medical supplies, including 1.37 billion facemasks and more than 15 million protective suits.

The countrywide scramble for facemasks has caused a widespread shortage of facemasks not only in China, but also in many parts of the globe. In fact, the demand for these medical supplies has become so enormous that it has sucked up virtually every single facemask any country can offer.

According to Milano Today, the panic rush for surgical facemasks have spread to Italy. Locals have joined in the frenzy, and a rapid depletion of the local surgical facemask supply ensued in Italy. Citizens in Italy are vying for every mask that they could get their hands on.

A pharmacy depleted its stock of facemasks within a few hours. The owners claim that they have attempted to contact the facemask suppliers for more stock. Unfortunately, most suppliers have run out of stock and all they could do was to wait for a restock.

Some pharmacies do have boxes of 100 masks for sale. However, these are usually scalpers charging the poor locals $100Euros for 100 facemasks.

A supplier that specialises in surgical facemasks, Dpi di Roma, stated that they have sold 10 years worth of facemask stock in a matter of 10 days. Yet, they are still unable to meet the overwhelming demand for facemasks, with new orders for millions of facemasks being placed every single day.

Another Italian manufacturer for personal protective equipment, Cormano, stated that the total demand for facemasks in Italy in the past few years is only around 15-20 million per year. However, in the past few days, they have received orders for 10 million facemasks, equivalent to roughly 50% of the yearly Italian demand for facemasks in just days.

In order to cope with the inflated demand for facemasks, the company has sent its 40 workers in Italy and 20 workers in Spain to work in three shifts round the clock in order to boost the productivity of its factories.

Source: Apple Daily TW #Feb23
https://bit.ly/37Vrvlr

#Italy #MaskShortage

#OpinionArticle

Words of a Romanian surgical mask trader

Thanks to pseudo-Chief Executive Carrie Lam for helping bring the new coronavirus from Communist China into Hong Kong, Hongkongers have to scramble for not just face masks and rubbing alcohol but also necessities like rice, toilet paper, sanitary napkins, etc. Shelves in supermarkets and drugstores are often empty. I don't know how to shop online, but I have just received a friend's email which made me ponder for a while.

That friend of mine was looking for face masks on the internet. He noticed a Romanian trader declaring that he would only sell the masks to Hongkongers. Curiosity prompted him to write an email to ask why. He got the following reply:
"I have lived through the Communist regime, and I know precisely how it feels when you are looking at the empty shelves in a shop, the bitterness and worry that come with it. I still remember how we were subjected to a bunch of silly, impotent rulers, how we had to listen to their commands and follow their orders. That feeling, that experience, is hard to describe. Many episodes of the past are unbearable, rather than calling them 'memories', it is more accurate to call them 'painful struggles'. Of course, the era has changed now, still I am greatly impressed by the will of Hongkongers to fight for freedom. It is for this reason I would only sell the masks to your fellows."

In old China, the criteria for the selection of government officials were based on virtuosity or capability. Emperor Taizong of Tang, in his essay "The Golden Mirror", says: "A capable ruler longs for moral sages, just like a peasant longs for harvest; a virtuous ruler needs talents, just like dry sprouts need rain." The Communist Party selects neither the virtuous nor the capable, it selects the corrupt. This can be proven by the selection of pseudo-Chief Executives of Hong Kong. Emperor Taizong also says: "Use the corrupt, and the world descends into disaster." When the corrupts are in power, millions suffer. This can be proven by the history of Hong Kong after 1997.

Source: Apple Daily
https://bit.ly/3ahltge

#Coronavirus #CommunistState #GlobalSupport #MaskShortage #SelfHelp #FailedState #Romanian

#OpinionArticle #HoFungHung

Structural issues within the Hong Kong Government and the Destruction of the Chinese Model

Editor’s note: Professor Ho-fung Hung is currently the Henry M. and Elizabeth P. Wiesenfeld Professor in Political Economy at the Sociology Department and the Paul H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University. He is also the author of the award-winning Protest with Chinese Characteristics (2011) and The China Boom: Why China Will not Rule the World (2016)

(17 Feb) At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, I originally thought this would be a good opportunity for Carrie Lam to act swiftly to prepare for the epidemic and restore Hong Kong people’s confidence in her government. In reality though, the government’s anti-epidemic measures have not only been lacking, but their response has also been very slow, which has aroused even more public anger.

//Full border closure did not happen, and Hong Kong people are now full of grievances....this government having already lost popular support and legitimacy

//The failure in Hong Kong’s governance does not stem from personality defects of individual Chief Executives

//anti-epidemic measures to a level comparable to the “People’s War” during the Korean War era

//China's rise has been supported by the West. It has run out of luck.

Continue reading:
https://telegra.ph/Structural-issues-within-the-Hong-Kong-Government-and-the-Destruction-of-the-Chinese-Model-02-29

Source : Ming Pao, (17-Feb)
https://bit.ly/2TvpDKK

#ChinesePropaganda #MaskShortage
#FailedState #CoronavirusOutbreak #CarrieLam #Economy #ChinaModel

#Rumour

Fight for queuing mask in Japan

Editor note: It is compulsory for all Japanese to learn martial arts in primary school and junior high school. Now that seems to be useful to uphold justice in some occasions.

Date: 25 Feb 2020
Location: Yokohama, Japan

Apparently, a woman cut in line when everyone was queuing for masks. A Filipino nearby tried to persuade her but to no avail. The two then started to fight. Another man came to support the one who jumped the queue. A Japanese joined in for a just cause. The whole incident involved 4 people from 3 countries. According to the local laws in Japan, all of the 4 will be handled and charged.

Sequel in Isezakich, Japan
Narrator: The first women who was beaten was a Chinese woman who jumped the queue. The one who began the fight was a Filipino. Later, a thin Chinese man tried to help the Chinese woman. The Japanese was triggered and got involved at last as well.

Source: Twitter
https://twitter.com/dabai3627/status/1232185649777655808?s=20

#MaskShortage #Queue #Japan #WithChineseCharacteristic