HONG KONG - In a move to contain the pandemic that “has taken a rather sudden downturn”, the government is again forcing the closure of some businesses deemed risky, amid new orders for people linked to a ballooning dance cluster to take mandatory Covid-19 tests.
From Thursday (Nov 26) to Dec 2, bars, pubs, nightclubs, bathhouses and party rooms must be shut.
All banquets will have no more than 10 tables although each table can still have up to four patrons, which is what is now allowed in eateries.
Health authorities said group gatherings in hotels and guest houses will be restricted. For instance, the number of guests in a room has to be capped and there must be proper segregation of quarantine and non-quarantine rooms.
Appealing to the public to reduce dining out and avoid gatherings, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan said the “situation is dire” with the source of infections unknown for many cases in recent days, and a third of the new patients asymptomatic.
This is the third time bars and pubs have been forced to shutter since the pandemic began. The first time was in April and later in July to September.
The updated measures are on top of existing restrictions such as no more than four in a public gathering or a table in an eatery. Masks are to be worn and restaurants are to cap operating capacity at 50 per cent.
Hours earlier, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the cluster outbreak is worrying and the government would move to close indoor premises.
“Most of them involve activities where you would take your mask off and there is also (a) crowd gathering, and in the crowd gathering activities, there will be some personal contact, and these activities are for leisure only.
“We think that in view of the situation, these premises will have to be closed,” Mrs Lam said.
The tightening of measures comes as the current dance studio cluster expands to 187 patients – what worried officials say is the largest outbreak since the pandemic swept the city.
On Tuesday, Hong Kong recorded 80 new confirmed cases, of which 69 were local and 54 linked to the dance cluster. This brings the total tally to more than 5,780, including 108 deaths.
The government on Tuesday issued a notice to say that seven more venues across the city in Mei Foo, Aberdeen, Sha Tin and Tsim Sha Tsui were added to an initial list of 14 dance studios at the heart of the latest outbreak.
Visitors to the seven studios were given until Thursday (Nov 26) to get tested, while those who visited the 14 dance clubs were given till the end of Tuesday to submit samples for testing.
This is to be done as the government continues to trace possibly infected persons who had been to the relevant venues and confirm if they had complied with the testing notice.
Any person who fails to comply with the testing notice can be fined a fixed HK$2,000 ($347). The person would also be issued with a compulsory testing order and another failure to do so could mean a fine of HK$25,000 and six months’ jail.
Separately, the chief executive said there are 200 new initiatives proposed this year in her fourth policy address to be delivered on Wednesday.
“Because of the tight financial situation of the government – we’ve had the budget and three rounds of anti-epidemic funds – we’ve already used HK$310 billion ($53.8 billion).
That may be the deficit of the government this year.
“We would like to make sure of reforms, streamlining synergy to implement these new initiatives without using additional monetary resources,” Mrs Lam said.
Some 700 initiatives were proposed the past three years, with 95 per cent completed or in progress, she noted, adding that the remaining 5 per cent will be moved along as Parliament picks up speed.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vYXNpYS9lYXN0LWFzaWEvaG9uZy1rb25nLXRvLXNodXQtcHJlbWlzZXMtb3JkZXItbW9yZS10by1nby1mb3ItY292aWQtMTktdGVzdGluZ9IBAA?oc=5
2020-11-24 11:06:20Z
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