470k seek government’s unemployment subsidy

The government on Wednesday said 470,000 people have applied for a $10,000 subsidy for those who’ve recently lost their jobs due to the Covid epidemic.

Authorities had in February anticipated that there would be 300,000 applicants.

The head of the government’s Policy innovation and Coordination Office, Doris Ho, told RTHK that this is because more people have lost their jobs.

“More people were out of employment in March when the unemployment situation was worse than in February, when we did the original estimate,” Ho said.

She explained it is also partly due to the subsidy’s expansion.

“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.”

Meanwhile, Ho said the government will be ready to inform successful applicants of the next batch after the Easter break.

They will receive the subsidy a week after the announcement, she added.