Crowds Gather in Wanluan to Buy Pork Knuckle|吃豬腳慶母親節 萬巒豬腳街湧入大量人潮

Business owners in Pingtung are happy and worried at the same time as huge crowds visited Wanluan to enjoy the local delicacy "pork knuckle", bringing in money and a potential risk of infection. Restaurants operators said they had even more customers over the weekend than during Chinese New Year. However, many people let down their guards and did not wear a mask. The area's narrow lanes and alleyways also made social distancing virtually impossible.


Pingtung's Wanluan "pork knuckle street" is packed with pedestrians and motorists with long lines in front of eateries. It is a custom to serve moms with pork knuckle on Mother's Day, and lines began forming at 5 a.m. Vendors say they haven't been able to take a break since 7 a.m.
I've been waiting almost an hour. There were probably 60 or 70 people in line when I got here.

Lines are probably twice as long as in years past. I haven't seen anything like this in the 10-plus years I've been in business.

The average wait time was an hour, with customers throwing social distancing guidelines to the wind. Many customers also didn't bother with masks.

We're used to wearing masks, but I honestly just forgot to wear one today. And anyway, the pandemic is pretty much over and there haven't been any new cases lately.

I think I'm fine. It's too hot (to wear a mask).

Some said it was too hot to wear a mask, while others said the pandemic is basically over. Around 10 a.m., police closed the area off to traffic.

The station will have special traffic controls in place today around the area. We will also be patrolling to remind vendors and citizens about prevention measures.

The local health bureau and police also patrolled the area to ask people to wear masks.



馬路上擠滿人車，屏東萬巒豬腳街交通大打結，因為每一家豬腳店都大排長龍，傳統習俗，要在母親節買豬腳給媽媽添福壽，早上5點多，就有人來排隊，店家7點開門營業，生意沒停過。

排隊民眾表示：「排到現在快一小時了，剛剛前面來，差不多有六、七十個人。」

豬腳街店家表示：「比往年都還有兩倍成長，因為我們來做十幾年，沒有看過這種盛潮。」

平均要等一小時才能買到豬腳，排隊已經無法維持社交安全距離，但部分民眾還不戴口罩。

排隊民眾表示：「畢竟我們都有戴口罩的習慣，只是我真的是忘記戴而已，不然說是覺得疫情，最近都零確診，OK！」

排隊民眾表示：「我覺得我還好啦，就是自己怕熱。」

有人怕熱不戴，有人認為台灣28天沒本土病例，比較不擔心。但為了防疫，上午10點警方開始禁止車輛再進入。

屏東縣萬巒分駐所所長許正琦表示：「今天分局就會特別規劃，交通管制的時段跟路段，沿著豬腳街跟商家及民眾，做防疫的宣導。」

衛生單位會同警方加強防疫宣導，呼籲民眾務必戴口罩。