Coronavirus: Hong Kong group hands out masks donated by Shenzhen government but recipients required to provide contact details online
- Hong Kong Community Anti-Coronavirus Link says addresses and phone numbers are being collected so masks can be delivered to recipients
- Group has already handed out 2.3 million masks either through 400 distribution spots across the city or via its online platform
Opposition parties expressed concern that addresses and phone numbers being collected would be passed on to authorities in mainland China or pro-establishment parties to use in the lead-up to legislative elections in September, but the group, Hong Kong Community Anti-Coronavirus Link, on Wednesday insisted the information was simply for delivering the masks.
Link convenor Bunny Chan Chung-bun, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress, said that since its inception in early February the group had handed out 2.3 million masks to the community either through 400 distribution spots across the city or its online platform.
Pro-establishment figures such as former health minister Dr Ko Wing-man, academics and medical experts set up the group.
It began to hand out the 1 million surgical masks donated by the Shenzhen government last week to those who had registered through its online platform, which required them to reveal their contact numbers and addresses.
