Covid: Hong Kong Monitoring Easter Holiday in Reopening Roadmap

Hong Kong will begin a phased relaxing of Covid-19 social distancing measures from April 21 as the world’s deadliest outbreak eases. Chief Executive Carrie Lam discusses the roadmap to a full reopening during a press conference.

“We really have to monitor very closely what will happen after the Easter holiday," said Lam.

Restaurants will be able to stay open for dining-in until 10 p.m., and can have up to four people per table starting April 21, government officials announced Thursday. Gyms, museums and cinemas can re-open, while bars will stay shut.

The city will also lift a ban on private gatherings of more than two households and allow four people to congregate in public, up from two people currently. Beaches and pools will remain closed for now.

The move to gradually ease restrictions comes as daily infections fall below 1,300 and follows the moderate relaxation of the city’s travel quarantine earlier this month. Still, the government’s adherence to China’s Covid Zero approach, as life in rival financial hubs like Singapore normalizes, continues to rankle the business community and erode Hong Kong’s global stature.

“Any measure that enables Hong Kong to resume normal operations will inevitably bring risks of transmission,” and infections are still relatively high despite their recent decline, Lam said earlier in the week. Safeguards like rapid tests and existing social distancing rules make the risks manageable, she said.

The Covid Zero approach, which only China and Hong Kong continue to pursue in a world that’s chosen to live with the virus, is under unprecedented pressure from the highly-transmissible omicron variant.

Shanghai has been locked down for weeks with residents growing increasingly frustrated at their struggles to get basic food and medical care as daily infections climb to almost 28,000. Cases peaked at more than 60,000 in Hong Kong, which never locked down or conducted mandatory mass testing, though the latter is still likely.

Lam said the government hasn’t given up on its plans -- initially announced in February -- for mandatory citywide testing. Its implementation depends on timing and capability, and an announcement will be made in due course, she said.

The city, with the help of the central government, has boosted its testing and isolation capacity in recent months after the surge in cases overwhelmed its resources. Hong Kong can send infected people to quarantine facilities or allow residents to isolate at home, and officials have signaled they’re keen to ramp up contact tracing.

“With this greater capacity, it would be very, very unreasonable and perhaps unacceptable to the majority of Hong Kong people to continue to close all these premises and allow people no chance to lead a normal life,” Lam said. “This is a very balanced and prudent approach in order to meet the needs of Hong Kong.”

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