Truck driver restrictions delayed by a week

Hong Kong Land Transport Council chairman Stanley Chiang confirmed that restrictions on truck drivers entering the mainland amid the Covid-19 outbreak will be delayed by a week. Photo: RTHK.

Janice Wong reports

Restrictions targeted at truck drivers delivering goods from across the border have now been delayed by a week.



Under the plan, truck drivers entering the mainland need to provide a health certificate from a hospital confirming that they have not tested positive for Covid-19 in the previous two weeks.



Drivers who fail to provide a certificate will be turned away.



The new restriction was due to be implemented from Saturday, but Hong Kong Land Transport Council chairman Stanley Chiang confirmed on an RTHK radio programme on Friday morning that mainland authorities have decided to delay the measure by a week, and it will come into force a week on Saturday.



Chiang said the Department of Health cannot provide these medical certificates, so truck drivers need to obtain them from other medical institutions.



He had warned on Thursday that as many as 10,000 cross-border truck drivers would be affected, and that the restriction could trigger another wave of panic buying in Hong Kong if there is a shortage of food and daily necessities imported from the mainland.



Hong Kong went through a period of panic buying earlier in the Covid-19 outbreak, which saw supermarket shelves stripped bare of various daily items.