Mainland medical supplies against COVID-19 arrive in Hong Kong orderly

HONG KONG, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Anti-pandemic medical supplies from the Chinese mainland have arrived in Hong Kong in good order and have been distributed to people in need through various channels.

The supplies were transported with a view to stabilizing the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said on Friday.

A spokesperson for the CEDB said the HKSAR has received over 30 types of medical supplies procured with the coordination of the central government, including over 250 million rapid antigen test (RAT) kits, 390 million masks, 90 million sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) and 1.6 million pulse oximeters.

Over 70 million RAT kits and KN95 masks and over 7 million boxes of anti-COVID-19 traditional Chinese medicines procured with the coordination of the central government have been distributed to households in Hong Kong via over 3 million anti-pandemic service bags, while 10 million RAT kits have also been distributed to schools for financially needy students, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that supplies will continue to be distributed to those working at the frontline of the anti-pandemic force, people with higher infection risks and people working in high-risk industries through multiple channels, while relevant supplies are also being provided daily to confirmed patients of COVID-19 and their close contacts in the form of anti-pandemic kits.

Meanwhile, the HKSAR government expressed gratitude to the central government for its donation of 600,000 boxes of anti-COVID-19 traditional Chinese medicines, where all of them have been distributed to residents subject to "restriction-testing declarations", confirmed patients in isolation facilities and those receiving treatment at 18 Chinese medicine clinics.

On Friday, Hong Kong registered 196 new COVID-19 cases by nucleic acid tests, and 170 additional cases through self-reported antigen rapid tests, official data showed.