Businesses Prepare For Lifting Of Coronavirus Ban

Businesses were busy on Thursday preparing to reopen their doors as government restrictions on some entertainment values are set to be eased at midnight – while firms that are still subject to a mandatory closure for at least two more weeks complained of unfair treatment.

Bars and gyms, along with cinemas and beauty parlours are among the businesses that will be allowed to reopen on Friday – though they will still have to observe restrictions such as keeping their venues at half capacity, and taking extra health precautions to minimise the risk of coronavirus infections.

Some cinemas on Thursday were already selling advance tickets, though the vice-chairman of the Theatres Association, Chui Hin-wai, said he doesn’t believe audiences will flock back to the silver screen immediately, since the entire global movie industry remains at a standstill.

However, Chui said he believes audiences will comply with the mandated hygiene measures – with cinemas blocking off half the seats to maximise distance between viewers.

A maximum of eight people will be allowed to sit on each row.

Similar arrangements will be taken at gyms – equipment will have to be spaced at least 1.5 metres apart, or have some form of barrier between them.

They’ll also have to be disinfected after each use.

A manager at a Tai Koo gym told RTHK this should be manageable, but acknowledged that it would be very difficult to separate gym-goers into groups of eight, saying it’s hard to control where they go.

However, he’ll do his best to ‘think of ways’ to comply.

It was a different story for operators of bath houses, party rooms, night clubs and karaoke lounges – that will have to remain closed until May 21 at the earliest.

The Massage Establishment Association complained that it was unfair that bath houses must stay closed even though massage parlours are allowed to reopen.

“[At] every sauna, the massage is the basic business”, said association chairman Julian So.

“Bath are just additional facilities for the customers.”

So said local bath houses are willing to close down any pools, saunas and steam rooms if they can resume their massage services immediately.

“The impact is very big”, he noted, saying the industry employs tens of thousands of mostly grassroots workers, who now “cannot earn their living because of this disaster.”

Party venues are also unhappy with the arrangements.

The Hong Kong Party Room Association questioned what criteria the government had used to determine the health risk posed by specific industries.

A spokesman told an RTHK programme he thinks restaurants and bars are probably a higher health risk, since a lot of people come and go without any records being taken.

However, private parties are a different matter, he said, as they can easily restrict the number of people – and can keep track of all the attendees.

Local tuition centres also lashed out at the government for not allowing them to resume operations right away.

They will reopen in line with the timetable set for the return of students to local schools – with older students resuming classes first from May 27, with younger pupils following in subsequent weeks.

But Trevor So, spokesman for the Education Centres Union, slammed such arrangements as ‘chaotic and unfair.’

He said tuition centres aren’t run like schools, and says they’re ready to go back to work.

Education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen said he also thinks the arrangements aren’t fair, as they’re essentially being forced to stay closed for several more weeks.

He said so long as the proper precautions are taken, he doesn’t see any reason why they cannot immediately start teaching kids again.