Govt To Hand Out 30 Million Locally-produced Masks

Every household in Hong Kong will be sent a package of ten free disposal masks over the next few weeks, in the first shipment of locally-produced masks made under a government subsidy scheme.

The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said Hongkong Post would deliver the packages to all almost 2.9 million residential addresses in the territory, and special arrangements would be made to deliver the masks to the small number of residences not covered by the post office’s delivery service.

In a statement, a department spokesman said “The Government wishes to share these masks with the public and fight the virus together.”

The adult-sized masks will be sent out starting next Tuesday, but the entire process is expected to take around three weeks.

Hongkong Post will also be arranging additional manpower for the exercise.

Households with sufficiently large mailboxes will find the package of masks inside. If the mailbox is too small, the postman will deliver the package straight to your door.

If no one answers, a notification card will be left behind for the resident to claim the masks at a designated post office within 28 working days.

Officials did not say whether or when more free masks would be handed out, but noted that when all 20 production lines under the government’s Local Mask Production Subsidy Scheme get up to speed, they will supply around 34 million masks to the government, and about 7.6 million to the local market.

The HK$1.5 billion scheme was launched earlier this year as part of the government’s Anti-Epidemic Fund as the city was running short of surgical masks.

While some people RTHK spoke to say they’re happy at getting a few more free masks to use, most said they weren’t very impressed at the plan.

One woman said masks aren’t a top priority anymore.

“It's not so urgent and the surgical masks are much cheaper now, so I think a majority of citizens can afford buying some”, she said.

She added that for her family of three, the ten free masks will be gone in a flash.

Asked if the government should be distributing more masks in future, she said, “I think… don’t waste our money.”

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