As retail sales fell with increasing social-distancing policies and travel limitations , companies and retail stores in Hong Kong snapped under the COVID-19 outbreak last month. Retail sales fell 44 percent in the month to $2.93 billion, which marks the biggest drop on record, Bloomberg reported, citing a release from the government.
The government noted in the release per the outlet, “The business environment of retail trade will remain extremely austere in the near term, as the COVID-19 pandemic has brought inbound tourism to a standstill and severely dented local consumption demand.” Economists, for their part, had predicted a median drop of 40.3 percent.
For the first two months of 2020, retail sales by value plummeted 31.8 percent from a year prior. The value of sales for food, tobacco and alcohol fell 9.3 percent in addition to a 58.6 percent drop in watches, clocks, jewelry and valuable gifts. The value of sales of goods in grocery stores, however, rose 11.1 percent for the two-month timeframe. Fuel sales increased as well.
Bloomberg Intelligence Economist Qian Wan said per the report prior to release of the results, “The city’s retail sales have been contracting at a double-digit pace since last July, leaving it in poor shape to survive through the virus.”
Hong Kong, for its part, is putting in place steps to combat COVID-19 proliferation, with the inclusion of a prohibition on gatherings of over four individuals as well as shuttering fitness facilities, movie theaters and arcades.
As previously reported, Hong Kong was utilizing wristbands that connect with a smartphone app to make sure individuals adhere to quarantines in their residences to decrease the spread of the coronavirus.
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The government per past reports was mandating that all arriving travelers follow two-week quarantines in conjunction with a medical watch.
According to an earlier report, there were more than 60,000 wristbands available for use in the nation.
