Hong Kong to ease Covid-19 social distancing rules, reopen some public entertainment places

If conditions prevail, restrictions on two theme parks, including Disneyland, will be lifted on Sept 18. PHOTO: REUTERS

HONG KONG - The city's government has announced the cautious easing of some social distancing rules, as the third coronavirus wave stabilises, with group gatherings to be capped at four and some businesses to reopen.

Barring any spike in infections, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan on Tuesday (Sept 8) said the limit imposed on eateries will be raised for a week from Friday to four people a table, up from the current two patrons.

Existing rules, including having tables spaced at least 1.5m apart, as well as mandating restaurants to cap seating at 50 per cent, will stay.

Sports premises, amusement game centres and places of public entertainment will reopen, Prof Chan said, adding that club houses, karaoke lounges, swimming pools and pubs will be considered in the next phase of rules relaxation.

From next month, the public may also be able to attend live performances.

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau, who was also at the briefing, said that if conditions prevail, restrictions on two theme parks - Disneyland and Ocean Park - as well as convention exhibition centres, which are now closed, will be lifted on Sept 18.

He added that Hong Kong has initiated bilateral talks on travel arrangements with 11 jurisdictions including Japan, Singapore, Thailand and New Zealand.

Stressing that there are unknown sources of the virus, Prof Chan said the government has extended till Friday the free mass Covid-19 testing programme that started on Sept 1, so as to identify those who are asymptomatic and break the transmission chains.

So far, more than 1.2 million people have booked appointments online to be tested and results of more than 930,000 have been uploaded to the programme system.

The city, still in the third wave of the pandemic, on Tuesday added six new confirmed cases, of which three were local infections. This brings the total tally to 4,895, including 98 deaths.

Hong Kong's economy, weakened by last year's months of unrest, has been battered by the pandemic and escalating conflict between the United States and China.

This year, the economy is expected to shrink by between 6 and 8 per cent, which would make it the first back-to-back annual contractions on record since 1961.

The city's gross domestic product slumped 9 per cent in the second quarter year on year, shy of the record 9.1 per cent year-on-year fall in Q1 2020.

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