Chief Executive Carrie Lam visited two self-help organisations by parents of people with disabilities and volunteers in Sham Shui Po today and gave them face masks donated to the Government.

Mrs Lam visited the Joint Council of Parents of the Mentally Handicapped and the Intellectually Disabled Education & Advocacy League.

She spoke with the chairmen and members of the organisations to learn about the challenges they are facing amid the COVID-19 epidemic and their views on rehabilitation services.

As the supply of face masks is persistently tight, Mrs Lam pointed out that the Government must prioritise the needs of healthcare workers and other frontline personnel taking part in anti-epidemic work.

She said the Government has nonetheless decided to pass all masks donated by various sectors to non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The Government has also agreed to expand the number of groups that can receive the donated masks to include about 94 self-help organisations under a Social Welfare Department subsidy scheme.

She added that there are currently about 850,000 face masks available for these organisations.

Mrs Lam said: "As mutual support from various sectors in the community is important in the fight against the disease together, the Government set up the public participation workgroup under the steering committee in relation to the COVID-19 virus. 

“One of its initiatives is to distribute face masks to people in need and I have also participated in activities of the NGOs to distribute face masks on a number of occasions.

“Taking into account the 2 million-odd face masks given to over 30 charity organisations, more than 3 million face masks have been distributed. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to every donor.”