Coronavirus: Hong Kong pledges HK$25 billion in cash handouts for groups battered by crisis and direct subsidies for firms to make masks to relieve dire shortage

The Hong Kong government has pledged a raft of handouts totalling HK$25 billion to businesses and vulnerable groups reeling from the coronavirus outbreak and offered direct subsidies for firms to make masks amid a dire shortage triggering long queues throughout the city.As pressure mounted for the government to bring home Hongkongers stranded in epidemic-hit Hubei province, officials for the first time indicated they were preparing to do so in batches but were tight-lipped on further details…