Coronavirus: Hong Kong to ease social-distancing rules from April 21 with extension of dine-in services, reopening of gyms, beauty parlours, sports venues as 1,043 new cases logged
- Cinemas serving food and drinks must require all visitors and staff to be triple vaccinated, while restaurant workers and those handling local tours have to undergo regular rapid tests
- Addressing political matters, city leader reveals there will be no chief secretary for remaining term
Key points:
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From April 21, restaurants can operate dine-in services until 10pm with four people per table. Bars will remain closed
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Catering staff must be vaccinated and undergo rapid antigen tests every three days
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Gyms, beauty massage parlours, cinemas, game centres, theme parks and places of worship to reopen. Limited to four people per group. Cinema-goers and staff must have had three vaccine doses if the operator wants to serve food and drinks.
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Public sports venues, libraries, museums and children’s playgrounds will reopen
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Public beaches, pools and barbeque sites will remain closed
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Universal testing still on the cards
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Local tours will resume with a maximum of 30 patrons per outing, and staff must be triple vaccinated
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Cap on public gatherings to be raised from two to four
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A ban on gatherings of more than two households in private places will be lifted
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Recovered Covid-19 patients will have their infection counted as one vaccine dose
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No dates given for the next two phases of relaxation, to be reviewed after the Easter holiday
Hong Kong will from April 21 start to ease social-distancing rules that have been in place for months, including an extension of dine-in hours for restaurants and the reopening of premises such as gyms, sports venues and cinemas.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her officials announced the long-awaited plan on Thursday morning, detailing the first stage of a phased exit from restrictions imposed during the fifth Covid-19 wave.
The announcement came on the back of a declining number of infections. Health authorities revealed 1,043 new cases, the fewest since February 10, when 986 were confirmed. They also reported 54 Covid-19-linked deaths, including 21 backlogged ones. The city’s overall case tally since the pandemic began stood at 1,195,338 cases, with 9,002 fatalities.
Omicron BA.5 detected locally for the first time
Health authorities revealed a 24-year-old man, who arrived from South Africa via Ethiopia on flight ET608 on April 6, carried the Omicron sub-lineage BA.5.
