Govt Orders Party Rooms To Close After Dance Cases

The government has moved to close all party rooms and ban live performances and dancing in bars and restaurants as a cluster of Covid-19 cases linked to dance clubs continues to grow.

Meanwhile Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the administration was looking at other measures to combat an upsurge in coronavirus cases, including using its new power to force people to undergo tests, as well as offering a one-off allowance to encourage people to take tests.

Under the new rules, gazetted overnight on Friday, party rooms will have to close from midnight on Saturday for an initial five days. A ban on dancing and live performances will also return for the same period.

"The number of confirmed local cases with unknown sources of infection has been on a rising trend recently, indicating the existence of silent transmission chains in the community," a spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau said.

"In view of the latest public health risk assessment, in particular the higher risks brought about by activities conducted without wearing masks as well as various social activities as shown in recent cases, we are of the view that it is now necessary to further tighten social distancing measures."

The government last stepped up social distancing measures on November 14, when it ordered bars and restaurants to reduce capacity from 75 percent to 50 percent and to seat fewer people at each table.

In a social media post, Lam said government officials met on Friday night to agree more anti-pandemic measures and the priority is to cut the chain of transmission as soon as possible.

She said relevant departments had been asked to use their new powers to implement mandatory testing for high-risk groups, as well as making it easier to take voluntary tests. Lam said more details would be announced later.

The closures follow a surge in cases linked to the Starlight Dance Club in Wan Chai, which has now spread to affect at least two other clubs. The SAR confirmed 21 new local cases on Friday and health chiefs said at least 40 people had tested positive on a preliminary basis.