'Cost Of Fresh Goods To Stay High For Some Time'

A cross-border truck driver representative said on Monday that he thinks prices for mainland vegetables and meat will remain high for some time - because many drivers are stuck in a three-week quarantine.

Prices for fresh goods have surged in recent days, in part because some cross-border truck drivers have come down with Covid-19.

Cheung Yuk-fai from the Hong Kong-Guangdong Transportation Drivers and Employees Association - an affiliate of the Federation of Trade Unions - said around 300 to 400 drivers are now in isolation because they're considered to be close contacts of the patients.

He told an RTHK programme that fewer than 50 drivers are still working.

Cheung added that under a new pandemic-induced arrangement, drivers are now required to collect the goods at a number of collection points in Shenzhen.

Mainland truck drivers would pick up the fresh goods from farms and pass them over at these interchange venues.

The union representative called on the authorities to reconsider the move, saying it increases the risk of cross-infection between mainland and local drivers.

He said the safest and most efficient way is to let Hong Kong drivers collect the goods directly from mainland farms.