Coronavirus: Hong Kong to close beauty and massage parlours amid Covid-19 spread
- Owners ordered to shut up shop for two weeks, from Friday
- The city has 960 confirmed infections, some of them linked to the newly targeted venues
In addition, an earlier ban on gatherings of more than four people at public venues such as restaurants has been extended until April 23. The moves on Wednesday came as the city reported 25 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total to 960.
Meanwhile, television station TVB announced its annual Miss Hong Kong Beauty Pageant would be cancelled this year, the first time in 48 years the event will not proceed.
Sandy Yu Wing-shan, a member of TVB’s management and the event's organiser, said in an interview with local media the decision was made so contestants who returned from abroad or mainland China would not have to take the risk of travelling during the pandemic.
Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said at a press briefing on Wednesday she hoped the new round of closures, along with the extended ones, could “effectively break the transmission chain of the virus”.
