HKSAR chief executive announces relaxation of social distancing measures

Chief Executive of China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam yesterday announced a relaxing of some social distancing measures, including allowing some entertainment venues to reopen and schools to resume classes, as the COVID-19 epidemic eases.

Entertainment venues, including fitness rooms, beauty salons and mahjong lounges, will be permitted to restart operation from Friday on condition that existing anti-epidemic measures remain effective, Lam told a press conference yesterday afternoon.

She said bars can also resume operation but will be under strict requirements, such as limits on the number of customers and no musical performance.

Besides, restrictions on the number of diners at each table in restaurants will be loosened from four to eight, and group gatherings of no more than eight people will be allowed. Schools will resume classes gradually from May 27.

The policy loosening came amid easing signs of the epidemic in Hong Kong where there have been no new local infections for 16 consecutive days.

However, Lam warned that there could be a resurgence of the COVID-19 spread and called on Hong Kong residents to stay alert.

Despite the partial relaxation announced yesterday, Hong Kong’s social distancing measures that have been in force for more than a month and were due to expire tomorrow midnight will be extended for another two weeks, with some places of high contagion risks to remain closed, including karaoke lounges, party rooms and night clubs

Meanwhile, Lam pledged that the HKSAR government will ramp up investment and expenditures in a bid to save the Hong Kong economy.

The government’s fiscal condition is better now than during the Asian financial crisis more than 20 years ago, Lam said, adding that the government has already announced about HK$290 billion (US$37 billion) of relief measures.

She urged the Legislative Council to pass the economic stimulus, including measures in the budget, as soon as possible and speed up approval for government projects.

Hong Kong’s gross domestic product contracted 8.9 percent year on year in the first quarter of the year, the largest recorded decline since the reference period of the first quarter of 1974, as the COVID-19 pandemic dealt another blow to the SAR’s economy yet to recover from months of violent incidents last year.

To tackle the economic hardship, the HKSAR government has announced two rounds of policies under the anti-epidemic fund and some other relief measures in its annual budget, including HK$10,000 of cash handout for each permanent resident aged 18 or above and also subsidies to help cash-strapped companies pay wages.

Financial Secretary of the HKSAR government Paul Chan on Monday said that the current main task is to quickly implement existing measures and the government will not hesitate to launch more measures if necessary.

Chan said that he is not optimistic about the economic outlook for the second quarter and expects Hong Kong’s economy to gradually recover in the second half of the year if the novel coronavirus pandemic is contained across the world.