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Hong Kong Covid-19 fourth wave: about 70 per cent of restaurants face closure amid tough social-distancing measures, poll reveals
- Institution of Dining Art also says a similar percentage of respondents are mulling laying off staff in the coming quarter
- Chairman Ray Chui urges authorities to raise borrowing limit in loan guarantee scheme from HK$5 million to HK$10 million
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About 70 per cent of Hong Kong restaurants polled have said they face closures in the next three months amid tightened social-distancing measures rolled out to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The Institution of Dining Art said on Tuesday a similar percentage of respondents also planned to lay off staff in the coming quarter.
The industry body surveyed 136 catering businesses in mid-December and found 19.9 per cent of them had either closed or were facing the threat of closure. The findings showed that some businesses might not survive till the Lunar New Year in February.
Association chairman Ray Chui Man-wai said the sector’s biggest challenge was the social-distancing measures imposed on catering businesses amid the fourth wave of coronavirus infections.
In the fourth wave, we don’t have many takeaway orders. This is a fatal factor
Restaurants are now running at half their capacity and can only serve up to two people per table, with dine-in services banned between 6pm and 5am.
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