'Relax Restaurant Curbs So More People Dine Out'

Members of the catering industry said on Wednesday that they want social distancing restrictions imposed on restaurants to be further relaxed as the number of coronavirus cases reported in Hong Kong drops, in order to encourage people to dine out.

The government announced on Tuesday that a 50 percent capacity restriction for restaurants will be removed, but other measures like compulsory mask wearing, a limit of four people per table and a distance of 1.5 metres between tables will be extended until May 7.

The president of the Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, Simon Wong, said he hopes the maximum of four people per table can also be relaxed to encourage the public to start going out for meals again.

He said the industry has been hard hit by the pandemic, and some 1,000 eateries have already suspended businesses or closed down.

Wong said the increase in the jobless rate to 8.6 per cent for the catering industry in March was expected, predicting that it will continue to rise and reach 9 per cent in April.

“The government at this moment can strike a balance between the economy as well as how to fight against the virus. If we see that the situation is under control, I request that the measures can be more relaxed,” he said.

Meanwhile, beauty parlours said the extension of a forced closure of their businesses had caught them off guard.

Speaking on an RTHK programme, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Beauty Industry, Nelson Yip, said they had expected to be able to reopen as the number of Covid-19 cases has remained low recently and even dropped to zero the day before the government announced that the social distancing measures would continue.

“We were already cleaning and disinfecting our parlours, getting ready to resume work. We didn’t get any notice from the government,” he said.

Yip said the industry has received very little support from the government.