The government on Sunday said 350,000 people who lost their jobs in the fifth wave of the pandemic have been granted a special HK$10,000 handout, amounting to HK$3.5 billion in total.

Officials said in a statement that they had completed the processing of all 470,000 applications to the Temporary Unemployment Relief Scheme, noting that the number of successful applications exceeded its estimates by 50,000.

They said they took a lenient approach, granting applications from people whose period of unemployment fell a day or two short of the 30 day requirement and who engaged in casual work during the unemployment period.

Some 27,500 applications were approved after review.

However, 120,000 applications were rejected because applicants either didn't supply sufficient information or didn't meet the criteria.

The government added that police had taken action against 39 people suspected of providing false information when applying for the handout.