Asia

Applications for pandemic relief are 57% higher than what the Hong Kong government expected

Workers in Hong Kong have been wearing protective suits to attend compulsory COVID testing, following the recent outbreak. REUTERS/Lam Yik

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In February, Hong Kong’s unemployment rate hit a five-month high of 4.5% amid strict social-distancing rules. With that, the government opened applications for a one-off relief payment of HK$10,000 for those who lost their jobs.

470,000 people applied, which is 57% higher than the government expected. So the government has yet to say how many people will actually receive the payment, but it may not be everyone. You’ll find out after the Easter break.

Key comments:

Doris Ho, the head of the Policy Innovation and Coordination Office said, “More people were out of employment in March when the unemployment situation was worse than in February when we did the original estimate."

“We expanded our scheme subsequently to cover employees working in closed premises such as fitness centres and beauty salons who were forced out of work by their employers," Ho said.