New Arrangements For Sale of Lunar New Year Flowers

After originally cancelling the Lunar New Year (LNY) fairs. The Government has backtracked and announced new arrangements for the sale of New Year flowers from 6-11 February.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) will now set up points of sale at the 15 sites originally designated for the LNY fairs. The number of stalls at the sites selling flowers will be reduced by approximately half.

A spokesman for the FEHD said, “The points of sale of New Year flowers will be opened during the period from 6-11 February. Stall operators may use the sites for free, but must comply with the ground rules and anti-epidemic measures, e.g. provision of hand sanitisers at stalls, provision of a list of staff and their contact information for tracing of confirmed cases, etc.”

“To make our anti-epidemic efforts effective, the footfall at points of sale will be monitored with the use of technology and various anti-epidemic measures will be strictly enforced. Stall operators and their staff at points of sale will also be required to undergo virus testing within 48 hours before the opening of the points of sale. The FEHD will provide one-off free testing services for them,” the spokesman added.

Year of the Ox, Lunar New Year Fairs Cancelled

The Government has announced that the Year of the Ox Lunar New Year fairs at 15 locations across Hong Kong and the Che Kung Festival Fair in Sha Tin scheduled for February have been cancelled due to the Wuhan virus (Covid-19).

A spokesman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department commented: “To assist flower farmers to sell flowers through other alternative means, we will meet with major stakeholders of the trade to actively explore feasible measures under the premise of upholding the anti-epidemic principles, such as identifying suitable locations in public housing estates or other places in various districts for selling New Year flowers, with a view to minimising the impact of the cancellation of the LNY fairs on the trade.”

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2016/Chinese-New-Year-2016-HKTB/i-NH6ZrTS/A

images: HKTB