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Hong Kong social distancing
Hong Kong

Coronavirus: Hong Kong lawmakers are not exempted from social-distancing rules, government says after Tanya Chan in Sham Shui Po bar gathering

  • Government issues statement as local media reports that Tanya Chan from Civic Party went to a bar in Sham Shui Po on Thursday night
  • Chan says it was not a public place under the regulation formed to check the spread of the virus and it was not in operation

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Hong Kong has banned gatherings of more than four people and closed pubs and bars for two weeks to check the spread of the coronavirus. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
Christy Leung

Hong Kong lawmakers are not exempted from the new social-distancing rules outside the legislature, the government has said, as a pro-democracy lawmaker reportedly gathered in a group of 40 in a bar.

The statement came on Saturday night as local media reported that Tanya Chan from the Civic Party went to a bar in Sham Shui Po on Thursday night. The report described that the bar had its metal gate closed by half and that Chan claimed she had gone there in her capacity as a lawmaker to meet representatives from the catering industry. The bar was not operating officially.

Chan said on her Facebook page last Friday: “The meeting place was not a public place under the regulation, there was no operation going on at the time.”

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She also added she followed social-distancing measures at the place.

Tanya Chan claims she went to a bar in Sham Shui Po last Thursday in her capacity as a lawmaker to meet representatives from the catering industry. Photo: Handout
Tanya Chan claims she went to a bar in Sham Shui Po last Thursday in her capacity as a lawmaker to meet representatives from the catering industry. Photo: Handout
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Hong Kong banned gatherings of more than four people, while also ordering a two-week closure of pubs and bars from last Friday, in a drastic escalation of social-distancing rules to check the spread of the coronavirus. The restrictions have mothballed about 1,200 businesses.
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