• Burmese
Friday, June 13, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
27 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Asia

As Stocks Are Replenished, Expats in Hong Kong Ship Masks Home

Reuters by Reuters
April 8, 2020
in Asia
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
A man wearing a protective mask walks on the street in front of a mural with a mask-clad woman in Hong Kong on March 27, 2020. / REUTERS

A man wearing a protective mask walks on the street in front of a mural with a mask-clad woman in Hong Kong on March 27, 2020. / REUTERS

3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

HONG KONG—Expatriates in Hong Kong are buying up masks to send to family and friends back home as supplies return to shops in the Asian financial hub and the coronavirus spreads around the world.

Boxes of masks can once again be seen stacked up in Hong Kong pharmacies. Shoppers pick them up then join long queues at courier companies and post offices to ship them back home where supplies have disappeared from the shelves.

“My family and friends in Spain are desperate,” said Spanish national Yolanda Caravaca Lopez, who lives in Hong Kong.

RelatedPosts

Hong Kong Court Jails 45 Democracy Campaigners on Subversion Charges

Hong Kong Court Jails 45 Democracy Campaigners on Subversion Charges

November 19, 2024
238
UK, US Blast Hong Kong’s Proposed New Security Law

UK, US Blast Hong Kong’s Proposed New Security Law

February 29, 2024
600
Key Moments From Chinese President’s Address to Communist Party Congress

Key Moments From Chinese President’s Address to Communist Party Congress

October 17, 2022
3.2k

“Because there are no masks, they tell me the news as if the end of the world is coming.”
Lopez said she bought 200 masks to send to Spain and France, where prices were up to 15 times higher.

Just one surgical mask can sell for as much as 10 euros (about 15,720 kyats) in Spain, she said. A pack of 50 in Hong Kong is about HK$250 (46,800 kyats).

Matthieu Maury, a French expatriate, said he sent 2,000 masks to France more than a week ago but shipments were becoming more expensive and taking longer.

Hong Kong suffered its own mask shortages in the early stages of the coronavirus epidemic, which began in central China late last year.

Two months ago, panicky Hong Kong shoppers were queuing overnight to buy them but companies have been setting up production lines in the city.

Nearly everyone in the former British colony wears a mask in public with all restaurants and many shops making them mandatory.

Hong Kong had some initial success in controlling the coronavirus outbreak but authorities said the city has seen a more than two-fold spike in cases in the past two weeks to 936.

Four people have died of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, in Hong Kong.

Robert Pols, a Dutch expatriate, said he went to the post office to send 300 masks to the Netherlands but left after being unable to confirm how long they would take to reach home.

“They cannot tell if and when flights are leaving Hong Kong and to send it by boat takes around two months.”

You may also like these stories:

China’s Wuhan Lockdown Ends, but Another Begins as Local Coronavirus Cases Rise

China Reports 30 New Coronavirus Cases, Three Deaths

China Must Compensate World for COVID-19: Myanmar’s Cardinal

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Hong Kongmasks
Reuters

Reuters

...

Similar Picks:

UK, US Blast Hong Kong’s Proposed New Security Law
World

UK, US Blast Hong Kong’s Proposed New Security Law

by AFP
February 29, 2024
600

London urged the government in Hong Kong to reconsider the new security legislation’s vague definitions of ‘state secrets’ and ‘external...

Read moreDetails
Hong Kong Court Jails 45 Democracy Campaigners on Subversion Charges
Asia

Hong Kong Court Jails 45 Democracy Campaigners on Subversion Charges

by AFP
November 19, 2024
238

The US, Australia and rights groups slammed the sentencing as evidence of the erosion of political freedoms in the city...

Read moreDetails
A CNTIC-VPower vessel imports LNG to power stations in Yangon. / VPower
Burma

Hong Kong Energy Firm Ditches Two Myanmar Projects

by The Irrawaddy
September 3, 2021
8k

VPower has said it is not renewing power projects in Mandalay Region and Rakhine State at a key port in...

Read moreDetails
The Shwe Kokko project in August 2019. / Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy
Burma

Chinese Casino City in Myanmar Recruiting Despite COVID-19 Crisis

by The Irrawaddy
July 19, 2021
8.6k

The giant Shwe Kokko new city project near the Thai border has apparently stepped up operations since the February coup.

Read moreDetails
Tens of thousands of protesters take part in a huge sit-in protest against the military regime on Feb. 22, 2021, in the “22222” general strike. / The Irrawaddy
Burma

Myanmar’s Anti-Regime Protesters Urge Asian Counterparts to Unite for General Strike

by The Irrawaddy
February 27, 2021
11.1k

Young protesters in Myanmar are hoping to spark protests in Thailand, Hong Kong and elsewhere through the online “Milk Tea...

Read moreDetails
Power transmission lines strung across Yangon’s Hlaing River / The Irrawaddy
Burma

Chinese State Firm, HK’s VPower to Implement Three Electricity Projects in Myanmar

by Nan Lwin
February 13, 2020
7.3k

A joint venture between a Chinese state-owned company and Hong Kong’s VPower will invest in three power projects in Myanmar...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Tokyo's Marunouchi business district is deserted on April 8, 2020. / KYODO

Major Japanese Cities Go Quiet as State of Emergency Declared

Volunteer social workers carry the coffin of a 47-year-old man who died of COVID-19 at Pyay General Hospital in Bago Region on Wednesday. / Salai Kaung Myat Min / The Irrawaddy 

Myanmar Reports Two More COVID-19 Deaths, Taking Toll to Three

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

The Hidden Fallout From China’s Cross-Border Crime Crackdown in Myanmar

The Hidden Fallout From China’s Cross-Border Crime Crackdown in Myanmar

4 days ago
1.4k
How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

2 days ago
919

Most Read

  • Civilians in Need as Arakan Army Advances on Kyaukphyu

    Civilians in Need as Arakan Army Advances on Kyaukphyu

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Advances into Karenni State

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Jade Hub Burns as Junta Counteroffensive Penetrates Hpakant

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • China Defends Myanmar Junta on Human Rights at UN

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • High-Level Ministerial Meeting Held to Speed Up Preparations for Myanmar Junta’s Election

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.