Covid: Hong Kong Eases Social Distancing Rules Further
May 6, 2022
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1:23Now PlayingCovid: Hong Kong Eases Social Distancing Rules Further
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as posted by the channelHong Kong is accelerating its reopening plans as Covid cases drop, easing mask-wearing rules and allowing more leisure venues to reopen.
The latest measures mean people will no longer have to wear masks while exercising outdoors and will allow beaches and swimming pools to reopen starting May 5. On May 19, dining-in at restaurants will be extended to midnight, while bars can stay open until 2 a.m., Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a briefing.
This second phase of easing was originally intended for late May, after Lam announced a first set of reopening measures from April 21. The acceleration comes as daily infections dropped to 290 after peaking at over 50,000 in a devastating omicron wave that became the deadliest outbreak in the world earlier this year. It also shows that Hong Kong may be taking a less doctrinaire approach to maintaining China’s no-tolerance policy, even as officials continue to voice their backing of Beijing’s Covid Zero strategy.
The move is a respite for Hong Kong’s residents, who have only just begun to emerge from restrictions put in place during the Covid surge that began at the start of the year. Bars and many public venues were ordered closed in January, while beaches shut in March after criticisms from the mainland over the seeming lax enforcement of outbreak measures in the city.
The Covid curbs hit the city’s economy in the first three months of the year. Retail sales fell 14.6% in Feb. and exports plunged 8.9% in March. The results have economists predicting Hong Kong’s first quarter gross domestic product will contract from the year prior -- a first since 2020 when the Asian financial center was in a historic two-year recession.
The second stage of easing is proceeding as planned since case counts didn’t rebound once dining-in after 6 p.m. and other restrictions were relaxed earlier in April. The number of positive samples detected from sewage monitoring and daily infections continue to fall, providing confidence that reopening would be safe, Lam said.
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