Eateries Set For Curbs, Movie Fans Savour Last Shows

As entertainment venues and restaurants got ready to impose new restrictions from Saturday evening, many movie buffs rushed to catch what was on offer at the movie theatres before the curtains came down.

Theatres, gaming centres and fitness centres are among places that will be closed from 6pm on Saturday under a new law to prevent public gatherings to stop coronavirus outbreaks. 

At a cinema in Yau Ma Tei, a man, surnamed Chow, said he would watch three movies on Saturday before the theatre closed.

He said the ban was being implemented at a very short notice and caused too much trouble to the film industry and movie lovers.

He said he had been going to the cinemas in the past few weeks and did not think it was a high-risk venue despite the coronavirus outbreak as everyone wore a face mask.

The last show at the theatre was at 5.20pm and staff were checking the temperatures of people going in, as well as providing hand sanitisers for everyone.

Some restaurants also had an early start to introduce the social distancing measures hours before the new restrictions were put in place, with some eateries spacing out their tables.

“We had already started little bit earlier, before the announcement from yesterday,” said Mostafa Zeineldin, general manager at Emmer restaurant at Pacific Place.

“We separated the tables to make sure they 1.5 metres apart,” he said. “We have some people queuing up to buy coffee, so we put signs on the counter to remind people that we need some social distancing.”

Zeineldin said they also started sanitising spots like door handles, tables and check temperature of customers.

Staff at another restaurant nearby said the new restrictions are not going to make much of an impact, as the number of customers have dropped sharply in recent times.

The staff, who didn’t want to be named, said they were all worried about the future.

“Everyday we come to work, we feel hopeless,” he said.