Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Tuesday that her administration has begun putting together a third round of relief measures as she signalled the existing social distancing measures will continue despite calls from the catering sector for some relaxations.
But Lam didn’t give any specific details about what aid will be rolled out, or exactly when it will be rolled out, as she met the media before the weekly Executive Council meeting.
She said it took about three weeks to secure funding for the last two rounds of relief under the anti-epidemic fund.
She said a special meeting of the Legislative Council’s House Committee had been scheduled for 28 August, to discuss the government’s anti-epidemic work.
“So that’s about 10 days from now, so hopefully we will be able to present some proposals for discussion, and thereafter take the case to [Legco’s] Finance Committee for approval,” she said.
The CE said there’s no plan to relax social distancing measures as the coronavirus outbreak has yet to be brought under control. The number of new cases still fluctuates and a lot of them could not be traced, she said.
Lam said she understands continuing the restrictions will affect a lot of businesses, like restaurants, but pointed out there are two worrying clusters of infections in society – one at the Kwai Chung Container Terminal, and the infection cases in domestic helpers’ quarters.
She also revealed that there are currently about 6,000 foreign domestic helpers waiting to change jobs in Hong Kong.
(RTHK/ Macau News)
Photo © RTHK
