A spokeswoman for the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department said the average bid price for the first 15 auctioned wet goods stalls was about HK$31,500, with the highest bid reaching HK$46,000 - six times more than the opening price of HK$5,440.

Speaking to reporters this afternoon, the department spokeswoman said there won't be any dry goods stalls and food stalls at the Lunar New Year Fairs across Hong Kong this year in view of the Covid epidemic.

She said there will be more space for people to observe social distancing without the dry good and food stalls, thus, lowering the risk of Covid transmission.

Crowd-control measures will be implemented at the fairs, with the maximum number of visitors allowed inside the Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair at the same time capped at 32,000, she said.

The spokeswoman added that the fairs could be canceled should the city’s epidemic situation take a bad turn.

Flower vendor Kwok, who secured stall No.1 at the Victoria Park fair with a price of HK$36,000, said his winning bid was already lower than that in previous years, with a price reaching up to around HK$70,000.

He believed the ban on dry goods and food stalls would not affect people’s willingness to visit the fairs, as people are used to getting flowers for the new year.

Meanwhile, Kwok said the epidemic had increased the shipping cost for his flowers from the mainland by about 40 to 50 percent, but he said the increased cost would not be reflected much in the selling price of his flowers.

He added that he is confident to profit in this year’s fair, which he intended to bid for four other stalls.