'Catering Sector Ready To Adopt More Controls'

Catering sector lawmaker Tommy Cheung on Saturday urged the government to reopen bars, karaokes and nightclubs as soon as possible, saying the industry is happy to take any infection control measures needed for their businesses to reopen safely.

The government has allowed various premises such as gyms and beauty parlours and clubhouses to reopen and had relaxed dine-in measures at restaurants, but businesses including bars, karaokes and nightclubs are still closed.

Cheung said that late last month he proposed to the government that his sector could take various anti-pandemic measures for their reopening.

He said the proposals included sterilising utensils with boiling water, using e-money and limiting customer stays in the restaurant to no more than two hours.

"We met with the Chief Secretary and a whole bunch of government officials from the FEHD and all that and make our proposals. So far we have no received any word – positive or negative – about our proposals," Cheung said.

The chairman of the Lan Kwai Fong Group, Allan Zeman, said on Friday authorities are to allow the reopening of bars from September 18 if coronavirus case numbers continue to decrease.