Hong Kong is implementing some of its strictest social distancing measures since the pandemic began, cutting off in-person dining at restaurants from 6pm and closing gyms and beauty salons, amid a growing surge in COVID-19 cases.
“We have no choice,” Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) said yesterday, as she announced the dining restrictions at a weekly press briefing.
The new restrictions took effect yesterday and extend for 14 days.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We all need to be mentally prepared about more measures to be rolled out,” she said.
The territory is struggling to contain its latest wave of COVID-19 infections, with case numbers often exceeding 100 a day last week — the highest since August.
That has prompted the government to gradually raise its social distancing measures, recently raising fines for those breaching restrictions and sending civil servants back to working from home.
The new wave of COVID-19 cases has already shuttered local schools and delayed a Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble, a blow to efforts to re-open the territory, whose economy has been rocked by protests and the pandemic.
Activists are worried that authorities are using virus-related restrictions to curb their ability to gather for demonstrations.
In-person dining restrictions hit hard in a territory with some of the world’s tiniest apartments, many of which have small or not fully-equipped kitchens.
However, Hong Kong needed to act, Lam said.
Public transport network data showed that this current round of social distancing restrictions had not led to a significant drop off in residents traveling around the territory compared with previous rounds of tightening, Lam added.
Hong Kong is also moving to close what Lam called “loopholes” in the arrivals process at its international airport.
In addition to measures already in place, she said visitors would now have to take designated transport to specially picked hotels for a 14-day quarantine.
They would also need to take an additional virus test on the 19th day after their arrival, she said.
Lam urged employers to allow work from home arrangements, and said the flow of people on the streets needed to be reduced.
“Unless it is necessary, please stay at home, work from home,” she said.
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