Coronavirus: No new cases in Hong Kong, but health chief warns fight is ‘new normal’
- For the second time this week, the city has an infection-free day, but Sophia Chan points to long battle ahead
- Restaurants allowed to operate at full capacity again, but business still down, while police reject bid to hold Labour Day rally
The warning came as restaurants resumed operating at full capacity instead of half, although the move brought little relief to eateries, with spots in downtown Causeway Bay that are usually packed during the lunchtime rush hour mostly empty.
Tough measures to contain the spread of the disease were previously extended until the first week of May, and police cited the risk of transmission as why organisers were denied permission to stage a Labour Day march on the first of the month. It remains unclear whether Hong Kong’s two most politically sensitive rallies of the year – in June and July – will go ahead.
Leading medical experts have said the city could begin to ease restrictions if new cases stayed in the single digits for 28 days as they have for nearly two weeks. Business owners, who complain they are “bleeding”, want life back to normal soon, but the health chief struck a cautious tone on Friday.
“Society, I believe, will have to gradually accept this new norm,” Secretary for Food and Health Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee told government radio. She denied the authorities were slow to respond to the crisis or their strategy had been confusing. “We make plans a couple of steps ahead,” she said. “But when we announce it, of course we are not going to spell out the comprehensive plan in one go.”