customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Chris Lau

Karen Zhang

Most bars and pubs in Hong Kong shut on Friday to comply with the government’s latest ban aimed at limiting social gatherings and curbing a growing number of Covid-19 cases tied to entertainment hotspots.
Health authorities said six of nine new local coronavirus infections were linked to bars in Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, with 34 others coming from overseas, taking the city’s overall tally to 845.
The latest shutdown order came as residents prepared to fan out across the city on Saturday to sweep the graves of ancestors and a senior official warned that students were unlikely to return to school before summer holidays.
But even with shops and streets largely deserted, residents managed to strike a positive note by breaking out into whoops, cheers and applause at 8pm for health workers fighting the pandemic as the city’s iconic skyscrapers beamed out messages of support.


Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch at the Centre for Health Protection, said at least five newly infected people had visited bars with a history of cases.
One person visited All Night Long in Tsim Sha Tsui, and another had a friend, among the confirmed cases, who had gone to Insomnia in Central, Chuang said. Two others were performers and the third was a bar employee.
The sixth case involved a man who visited Tasmanian Ballroom in Lan Kwai Fong after returning to Hong Kong from the Netherlands in early March. “We are not sure whether this is an imported case involving a long lapse of time or a locally infected one from a bar,” Chuang said.
A Cathay Pacific ground employee had also been infected but the source of transmission was unclear, as the person had also recently attended a funeral, she said.


The government has already closed nine types of venue, including cinemas, gyms, saunas and karaoke bars. Under the ban that came into effect at 6pm, any premise that is “exclusively or mainly used” to sell and consume liquor must close for at least two weeks. Offenders risk a maximum HK$50,000 fine (US$6,450) and six months in jail. Authorities have tied roughly 70 infections to such venues, including a baby boy about six weeks old.
But hours before the deadline, owners were complaining of grey areas in the rule and left wondering how it would apply to drinking venues that also served food, which are categorised as “bar and restaurants” on their liquor licence.
“With the new government’s policy, the message is rather unclear,” said the vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Bar and Club Association, Chin Chun-wing, who also criticised the government for failing to consult the industry beforehand.

Chin said many owners would close down rather than sell food and risk running afoul of the law. He urged the government to offer compensation by paying their full rent and 80 per cent of staff salaries. He called on authorities to close all restaurants to better stem the spread of the virus and avoid extending the shutdown period.
Barrister Anson Wong Yu-yat agreed the new regulation was ambiguous, which should not be the case for a law that carried a criminal penalty. He said that while restaurants were still allowed to serve alcohol, bars might not get away just by selling food.
In Central, hotspots along D’Aguilar street were closed after 6pm but two restaurants with bar service on Wyndham Street remained open although the pub area was off-limits. 
But at one venue customers were allowed to sit in a row of seats opposite the bar after ordering only drinks. “We will give you some snacks for free,” an employee said.
Across the harbour in Tsim Sha Tsui, some pubs and restaurants remained open but with their bar areas closed. About 20 police officers and inspectors from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department were patrolling near Chatham Road South.
Officers were checking licences and whether patrons were mostly there for food, according to
Nana Cheung, bar team manager of M1 Group that runs the Right Place on Prat Avenue.
Customers need to order food like starters and main courses
Nana Cheung, the Right Place
“Customers need to order food like starters and main courses,” said Cheung, whose establishment
had an alcohol and restaurant license. “We also advanced our closure time from 2am to 11:30pm since we are mainly offering dinners due to the new rules.”
Sam Lee, an employee at a bar on Hart Avenue, was cleaning up after the deadline had passed.
“Our bar only has an alcohol licence and a hawker licence. No restaurant licence, ” Lee said. “The new regulation didn’t say clearly if we can continue to operate. To be safe, we are closing for two weeks from today.”

With the outbreak showing no signs of tapering off, microbiologist Dr Yuen Kwok-yung, a member of the government’s health advisory team, said schools were unlikely to open their doors before the summer holiday. While each school has adopted its own approach, most have been offering classes online, including physical education lessons.
The Hospital Authority’s chief manager of quality and standards, Dr Lau Ka-hin, offered assurances that Hong Kong had enough N95 masks for frontline medical staff to last at least two months.
When asked whether hospitals had plans to reuse them when supplies ran low, Lau said they would explore all possibilities.
Noting the Ching Ming Festival was a day away, Undersecretary for Food and Health Dr Chui Tak-yi urged people to “think twice” before sweeping graves as the event often attracted more than 200,000 people at government-run cemeteries alone. Chui pointed out that social-distancing rules already in place banned public gatherings of more than four people.
The public show of support across the city was organised by a volunteer team at property giant Swire Properties and a non-profit organisation called Hong Kong Community Foundation, which were inspired by “Clap for Carers”, a similar initiative that had gone viral across European countries since late March.


Hong Kong’s ‘Dr Fauci’ Yuen Kwok-yung on growing up poor and weathering Sars and Covid-19

Hotel properties in Japan, China, draw investors as travel fervour improves returns

Hong Kong tour guide struck off for threatening mainland Chinese reluctant to shop

Ruling on satirical Hong Kong TV show underlines city’s judicial independence

Coronavirus pandemic

Bars and pubs shut across Hong Kong as city records 43 new coronavirus infections

Bars have closed down in the Hong Kong nightlife hub of Lan Kwai Fong. Photo: Nora Tam

A lone person seen in Lan Kwai Fong in Central amid the coronavirus outbreak. 27MAR20 SCMP / Sam Tsang

Tables and chairs are taped up to keep social distancing at a Starbucks coffee shop, following the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Hong Kong, China April 2, 2020. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

Patrons at a bar on Knutsford Terrace in Tsim Sha Tsui amid the coronavirus outbreak. 03APR20 SCMP / Winson Wong

Coronavirus: pandemic could last for months says top Hong Kong expert, as he disputes claim from Chinese peer crisis will be under control within weeks

A man alone at Lan Kwai Fong in Central amid the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: Sam Tsang

Professor Gabriel Leung was the founding director of the World Health Organisation’s Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control. Photo: Dickson Lee

Coronavirus: Cathay Pacific to cut more flights after carrying just 582 people in a day

Like airlines the world over, much of Cathay Pacific’s fleet has been grounded by the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Robert Ng

News

Hong Kong

Health & Environment

Coronavirus

Asia

Health & Medicine

Greater China


With latest round of closures, government hopes to stop cluster of infections tied to nightlife districts
But owners complain the new rule, which allows some venues to stay open if they serve food, is unclear



With latest round of closures, government hopes to stop cluster of infections tied to nightlife districts. But owners complain the new rule, which allows some venues to stay open if they serve food, is unclear.


Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

Hong Kong healthcare and hospitals

Bars and pubs shut across Hong Kong as city records 43 new coronavirus infections

With latest round of closures, government hopes to stop cluster of infections tied to nightlife districts But owners complain the new rule, which allows some venues to stay open if they serve food, is unclear

With latest round of closures, government hopes to stop cluster of infections tied to nightlife districts

But owners complain the new rule, which allows some venues to stay open if they serve food, is unclear