Downloads Of LeaveHomeSafe Tracing App Spike

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung on Saturday said the government expects more and more people will be downloading its contact-tracing app, LeaveHomeSafe, saying it's a good indicator that there has been more downloads in the past week.

He said as of Friday night, the app had registered nearly 650,000 downloads, a rise of more than one third since the administration said earlier this week that people will need it to enter restaurants, business venues and government buildings.

People also have the option to register their personal information instead.

Critics are concerned the app could access other information on people's mobile phones, such as their photos.

"Worries are completely unnecessary. Because in terms of privacy, we're 100 percent not violating [relevant laws] and we ensure people are fully protected," Cheung told a Commercial Radio programme.

He said while there are no definite prerequisites for Hong Kong to lift its border restrictions with the mainland and Macau, he hopes the SAR will have the right conditions to do so when the number of daily new coronavirus cases has returned to single digits and stabilised.

Cheung said getting vaccinated could be a condition, but ultimately it boils down to discussions with mainland authorities to see what they would accept.

Catering sector lawmaker Tommy Cheung, who chairs the Liberal Party, said he hopes his sector can get priority for the Covid vaccines.

He said on a radio show that he's cautiously optimistic that social distancing measures can be relaxed from next Thursday as planned, such that dine-in hours will extend from 6pm to 10pm.

The lawmaker said a few weeks ago the government had planned to allow night time dining-in again, but the idea was scrapped because the local epidemic worsened.

Unionist lawmaker Alice Mak, for her part, put the blame on pro-democracy district councillors for the epidemic situation as "they always oppose the government". She acknowledged there's room for improvement for the government's work.