'Fined Cafe Staff Were Just Following Police Orders'

The owner of a restaurant that was sealed off as part of an “ambush-style” lockdown in North Point said on Friday morning that seven of his staff had been fined for not getting coronavirus tests – but claimed they were simply following police instructions.

Jason Hui, who owns the Villa Villa Café & Bar on the ground floor of the Tung Fat Building, said they are asking authorities if there was any misunderstanding, adding he may consult a lawyer.

Hui said police officers told his workers to stay in the premises on Thursday night. But, he said, the officers never came back to ask them to head to a testing station.

"We were just following the order police officers gave us,” he said. “We did not know what the arrangement was because the lockdown came too suddenly.”

Hui said his staff went to the testing station on their own initiative at around 7am on Friday morning, when they heard the lockdown was ending.

They were then each given a HK$5,000 fine, because government workers said they had not taken the tests before a 2am deadline.

"An officer told me they did come to knock on our door in the middle of the night but no one answered,” Hui said. “But I fast-forwarded through our security camera footage and saw no one."

RTHK has reached out to both the police and the Centre for Health Protection for comment.