Hong Kong social distancing: businesses tentatively welcome road map for easing restrictions, but many still have concerns
- A catering industry representative says the government should move faster in lifting all restrictions on restaurants
- An advocate for local bars owners, meanwhile, says he is sceptical the government will allow them to reopen as planned given its ‘frequent flip-flopping’
Hong Kong businesses have tentatively welcomed the government’s new road map for easing stringent anti-pandemic measures, though bar owners – among those hardest-hit by temporary shutdowns – have expressed scepticism that they will be allowed to reopen as planned given what they called authorities’ “frequent flip-flopping”.
Following the announcement of the new road map on Monday, the city’s battered catering industry also called on the government to lift all restrictions on restaurants in May, pointing to changes to Hong Kong’s vaccine pass scheme requiring all patrons to have received three doses of a coronavirus vaccine by then.
City leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor revealed on Monday that harsh social-distancing restrictions would be eased in three phases over a period of three months starting on April 21, provided there was no rebound in coronavirus cases.
In the first phase, gyms, game centres, beauty salons, massage parlours, places of worship and sport venues will be allowed to reopen, though groups will be capped at four people. Restaurants will be allowed to offer dine-in service until 10pm – up from 6pm currently – with four diners allowed per table, up from two.
Bars, however, will have to remain closed until the second round of rule-easing.
Licensed Bar and Club Association of Hong Kong charter president Ben Leung Lap-yan, who said he expected the second round to come in late May, expressed pessimism that the city’s 1,400 bars would be allowed to reopen even then, given the government’s track record. He noted that the bar industry had suffered losses totalling HK$700 million (US$89.5 million) per month after being forced to shut down in early January.
“We don’t hold out hope that we can reopen on May 21. We have gone through so many times of disappointment amid the government’s frequent flip-flopping in policymaking,” he said. “There have been many times we thought we could reopen our businesses despite the low caseload, but in the end we had to keep shutting our doors for a long time.”
