Eased Curbs Welcomed By Restaurants, Beauty Parlours

Restaurant and beauty parlour owners welcomed the government's move to ease some restrictions imposed on their sectors, while people working in fitness centres and gyms expressed disappointment that they would not be allowed to re-open.

The president of the Federation of Restaurants, Simon Wong, said that fast food chains and smaller restaurants would benefit from the extended business hours, and that there could be a 30 percent boost in business.

Wong said it would be better for the relaxation of dine-in hours to begin on Wednesday, but he understood that officials were only being cautious.

But he was sceptical about the Health Secretary's suggestion that restaurants introduce additional hygiene measures – such as having dedicated people to clean tables, serve food, and do deliveries – to protect the health of diners.

"Not all restaurants can afford to hire more people to do separate work, because in Hong Kong there are many small restaurants that only employ very few people. Some restaurants only employ one or two employees or frontline staff. For these kinds of little restaurants it’s very hard for them to have special people allocated for special jobs.”

Similarly, the president of the Institution of Dining Art, Simon Wong, said that restaurants have been unable to operate in the evenings for more than 40 days. He said the impact on the industry has been disastrous and the extended dining-in hours was a welcome respite for the sector.

A nail salon owner told RTHK that the industry had been waiting for a long time to reopen salons, and that some have decided to close for good because they've had no income for so long and have been unable to pay rent.

With the re-opening, she said she would consider introducing additional measures to protect her staff and customers, including wearing face masks, using hand rubs, regularly disinfecting equipment, and installing plastic sheets between herself and her customer with only a gap underneath so she can do her clients' nails.

But not everyone was happy with the announcement. Gordon Yau, the marketing and communications manager for the Asian Academy For Sports & Fitness Professionals, said he was disappointed that fitness centres and gyms would not be allowed to re-open.

Yau said that the industry was willing to implement social distancing measures and hoping to re-open as soon as possible. He said that some have even made suggestions such as temporarily suspending group classes and allowing one-to-one training.

He also said fitness centres can restrict the number of people allowed inside a gym. For instance, any facilities under 1,000 square feet cannot have more than eight people and coaches at the same time, and a maximum of 16 people is allowed for venues between 2,000 to 3,000 square feet.

He also said that people need to register before they can use a fitness centre, and in the event someone did contract the virus, it could be easier to carry out contact tracing.