Health Experts Urge Tighter Restrictions In Eateries

Two infectious disease experts on a government advisory panel said restrictions should be tightened at restaurants again amid a surge of local Covid-19 infections.

Leading microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung of the University of Hong Kong said he observed that restaurants had been crowded recently and staff have been more relaxed over infection control measures.

Speaking to a Commercial Radio programme on Wednesday, Yuen said there was “no scientific basis” to exclude catering businesses from the gathering ban of 50 people.

He said it was easier for the coronavirus to spread indoors when people removed their masks to talk and eat, but transmission was less risky outdoors due to the better air flow.

Another expert, Professor David Hui from the Chinese University, echoed Yuen’s views, saying it’s important to control the number of people indoors, and the most important thing at the moment is to find and quarantine any close contacts of confirmed Covid-19 patients

Hui told an RTHK radio programme on Wednesday that the measures should be tightened as soon as possible to break the chain of virus transmission in the community.

He said that cases where the source of infection cannot be found were the most worrying, and the risk of community outbreaks in those cases were higher.

Restrictions on restaurants were relaxed last month and they were allowed to run at full capacity as long as infection control measures were put in place such as keeping tables apart and checking customers’ temperatures.

The Centre for Health Protection has confirmed that a community outbreak has occurred involving customers and workers of a number of restaurants, and an elderly person living at a care home.

Health Secretary Sophia Chan later announced a series of new restrictions including curbs on visits to rehabilitation hospitals and elderly care centres, compulsory saliva tests for all air and ship crew, and a relook at controls on people returning from highly infected countries.

She also said a decision on whether current regulations on restaurants, entertainment venues or religious venues need to be changed will be announced before the existing restrictions end on July 16.