Hong Kong Retail Chains Ration Staples to Curb COVID-19 Panic Buying

Hong Kong Retail Chains Ration Staples to Curb COVID-19 Panic Buying
Customers wearing masks queue up to pay at a supermarket, ahead of mass coronavirus testing, in Hong Kong, on March 2, 2022. Tyrone Siu/Reuters
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HONG KONG—Two of Hong Kong’s largest consumer retail chains started rationing some food and drug items on Friday to curb panic buying that has plagued the city over the past week amid fears of a citywide lockdown as COVID-19 cases soar.

Supermarket chain ParknShop announced limits of five items per customer on staples such as rice, canned food and toilet paper while pharmacy Watsons put the same limits on medication for pain, fever and colds, Hong Kong media reported.