Coronavirus: Lan Kwai Fong bars and restaurants won’t survive alcohol ban without Hong Kong government subsidies, industry warns
- Venues at Hong Kong’s top party destination face financial ruin when alcohol sales are outlawed in drastic anti-contagion measure
- The area in Central has been linked with 11 coronavirus cases, and businesses say they will be reliant on government handouts
Bar owners have warned that businesses in Hong Kong’s famed nightlife district Lan Kwai Fong will not survive the alcohol ban revealed on Monday without the government subsidising their rent and staffing.
The new restriction was announced as the number of Covid-19 patients linked to the area rose to 11, while the Post can reveal four of its venues – Volar, Kagesha Lounge, Draft Land HK and Kinship – were visited by two confirmed cases earlier this month.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor unveiled on Monday afternoon her plan to temporarily ban all of the city's 8,600 restaurants, bars and nightclubs from selling alcohol.
Explaining the drastic measure, she said: “Sometimes people get a bit intimate when they’re drunk, and this will raise the risk of cross infection.”
Lam has not specified when the ban will take effect but confirmed it will become law by amending the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance. She also hinted the drafting of the legislation will be general enough to allow for further restrictions.
The bill bringing in the ban can take effect immediately, under a Legislative Council process known as “negative vetting”, before lawmakers have the opportunity to scrutinise the legislation.
The new ban is expected to affect all venues in the city with liquor licences, including about 120 restaurants and bars in Lan Kwai Fong.