Markets To Start Disinfection As Expert Slams Delay

Authorities announced that they will be shutting markets at Ngau Chi Wan in Choi Hung and Pei Ho Street in Sham Shui Po on Friday for disinfection as a health expert slammed the delay and called on people who had been to these two places isolate themselves for 14 days.

This comes as Link Reit said Tsz Wan Shan Shopping Centre in Kowloon, which has been linked to a number of locally infected coronavirus cases, will be closed on Friday and Saturday for a deep cleansing.

But Hong Kong University microbiologist Ho Pak-leung was critical of these moves, saying the first cases linked to the Pei Ho Street Market were confirmed on Sunday and Monday, and yet Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) is starting disinfection work only now.

He said Link Reit also decided to act though health authorities had reported that many of the confirmed patients on Thursday were linked to Tsz Wan Shan Shopping Centre, including family members of staffers from eateries in the mall.

The expert warned that with the Pei Ho Street Market case, there was a chance that people may have caught the virus in the last few days.

Ho called on anyone who had been to these areas where confirmed cases had been reported to isolate themselves for 14 days even if they're not showing any symptoms.

He also said the FEHD should considering implementing curbs similar to those imposed on restaurants, such as a cap on the number of people allowed to enter the markets and temperature checks at the entrance.

Despite reports of confirmed cases visiting or working there, some people were seen working and shopping at the Pei Ho Street market in the morning although the market was largely empty.

Some dried goods stores were temporarily closed and only a few people were seen eating at the cooked food centre on the third floor.

Some customers told RTHK that Pei Ho Street Market is a lot cheaper than other markets, convenient because it’s close to where they live, and even if there are confirmed cases they will still go there.

Some fish stall vendors said they would clean and disinfect their stalls later. One fish monger said that business started going down about 80 percent a few days ago and said the government response was too slow and that they should disinfect the market immediately.

Tsz Wan Shan Shopping Centre in Kowloon has started the disinfection work. Several cleaners were at the scene and some staff at a bakery inside the mall was seen moving goods.

One person working at a restaurant inside the mall said he was notified of the closure late last night and said everything was very rushed.

Some people at the scene described it as “scary”, and some residents said that the malls’ closure was inconvenient for when they need to leave or return home because it connects a lot of housing estates.