'Pork Trade Will Stabilise When More Workers Recover'

A representative of pork traders said on Wednesday that he believes more than half of workers in the sector have been infected with Covid-19, and the supply of fresh meat will not stabilise until more of them recover.

Hui Wai-kin, head of the Pork Traders General Association, said he believes only around a third of workers in the local pork trade are uninfected at the moment.

"For the whole slaughterhouse, the production line, transport workers and buyers, they're all linked, they are interlocked," he said.

"For example, even if the butchers can come here to help with fresh pork production, but the meat can't be delivered to the markets because there's a shortage of transport workers. You still can't get it done."

Hui said some of the 200 plus infected local workers will hopefully be able to resume work as early as Sunday, and supply should gradually stabilise.

Hong Kong's central slaughterhouses in Sheung Shui and Tsuen Wan were recently shut down because of coronavirus outbreaks.

In view of the manpower shortage, their operator, China Resources Ng Fung, said 38 butchers from different parts of the mainland were coming to the SAR on Wednesday to work in a closed-loop environment, initially for two months.

Meanwhile, a food traders' association, the Hong Kong Food Council, said while fresh pork supplies have been scarce, there is more frozen pork coming into Hong Kong.

It called on the public to stay calm, saying the city has a sufficient supply of food.