Life has returned in districts like Tsim Sha Tsui, Causeway Bay and Central as businesses, forced to close amid the outbreak, reopened yesterday after the government loosened social distancing rules on the back of the absence of new local Covid-19 transmission.
Venues like gaming centres, gyms, cinemas as well as mahjong clubs are now allowed to open their doors to customers, with certain restrictions to remain till May 21.
They are to operate at half their capacity and masks are to be worn. Cinemas, for instance, can have no more than eight people in a single row, and no food and drinks are to be served.
Beauticians cannot perform certain treatments and must wear masks and eye shields when serving customers, who have to be 1.5m apart, similar to how far apart tables have to be spaced in eateries.
Beauty salon owner Candy Wong, in her 40s, said she is fully booked for six days, after the government on Tuesday announced the easing of the rules.
This comes after her shops were shut for a month.
Restaurants can now take bookings of up to eight in a group.
Mr Kwok Wang Hing, chairman of the Eating Establishment Employees General Union, welcomes the government's decision but noted that the food and beverage sector will continue to suffer.
"Over the Mother's Day weekend (this week), business for restaurants will be slightly better but the outlook is still bleak," he said.
Mr Kwok noted that F&B giant Maxim's Group, famed for its old-school dim sum restaurants and bakeries, will be letting go 100 of its employees.
Bars and pubs are not allowed to have live music and dancing, and can have no more than four customers per table.
Karaoke bars, bathhouses and night clubs will remain closed until further notice. Schools will reopen in phases from May 27.
The value of total retail sales in March, provisionally estimated at HK$23 billion (S$4.2 billion), fell 42 per cent compared with a year ago, the Census & Statistics Department said on Tuesday. The value of sales of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco fell 21.2 per cent.
There has been no local infection for more than two weeks. As of yesterday, the total confirmed cases stood at 1,044.
On Monday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said Hong Kong's economy in the first quarter of the year contracted 8.9 per cent from the year-ago period, making it the largest decline on record since 1974. For the full year, he projects the economy to contract by 4 per cent to 7 per cent.
