Speaking to a Commercial Radio program, Ho said that some of the confirmed coronavirus patients around the world were linked to wet markets, and expressed concern that Hong Kong's wet markets could be an "epidemic time bomb" that could result in more infections. He said that out of the 73 wet markets managed by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, at least 11 of them have seen some virus infections. Ho said that the virus was more likely to spread by people not wearing face masks properly, communicating with stall vendors, and through cash changing hands. He said that as a major shareholder of Octopus, the government should consider allowing people to pay for their groceries using Octopus cards at wet markets. Ho said that it would be difficult to shut the city's wet markets completely as people need to buy food, but said that elderly people should avoid going to the markets.

Source: The Standard August 05, 2020 08:03 UTC