“A net negative for overall meat consumption and imports” in Hong Kong and some areas of China, said U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), senior vice president Joel Haggard.
While many Asian countries begin to ease COVID and social distancing restrictions, approximately 90 million continue living under a form of lockdown orders, said the USMEF report.
The report explained how Hong Kong authorities considered a plan to COVID test every resident three times over a period of nine to ten days. As daily cases have continued at high levels, the Hong Kong government decided that pushing the entire population into community testing centers is impractical.
Haggard reported that 50 million people remain in strict lockdown and another 40 million in partial lockdown has affected the meat imports in several ways.
Supply chain issues, specifically movement from ports to central warehouses, have slowed the delivery of food to the public, Haggard said. In addition, restaurants are required to close by 6pm and can only allow two people per table.
“Everyone’s hoping this wave will be short term and that normalcy will return soon,” Haggard concluded.
