June 14, 2016  Bed bugs (木虱) in Hong Kong!

One reason why many poor people are now sleeping on the street or in parks or at McDonald's is that the rooms they were renting are plagued by bed bugs.

Sam (not his real name) has been in prison more than a dozen times. The last three times he's been released, he's been allocated a dormitory bunk (床位) by a government-sponsored organization. But that bunk has been infested with bed bugs. Homes for the aged and other centres are facing the same problem.

Bed bugs were pretty much unheard of from shortly after World War II to about 10 years ago. But in recent years the number of reported cases has increased dramatically.

One contributing factor to this problem is the unhygienic habit of sleeping between a sheet and a blanket instead of between two sheets. Sheets can easily be washed every week or two. Unwashed blankets that have been in contact with human flesh are magnets for bed bugs.