Coronavirus: Hong Kong set to ease some social-distancing measures next month, sources say, as city records no new infections for third day in a row

Sources say government plans to lift temporary ban on some businesses after May 7, allowing those deemed to be of ‘lesser risk’ to reopen gradually

Quarantine restrictions on cross-border pupils and businesspeople will also be relaxed, while civil servants return to their workplaces on Monday

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Hong Kong cannot let its guard down yet on the coronavirus, the city’s leader warned. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 2:43pm, 28 Apr 2020Updated: 4:20pm, 11 Sep 2020

Hong Kong will partially ease coronavirus social-distancing measures next month, with some business establishments gradually being allowed to reopen after May 7 and secondary school pupils resuming classes when university entrance exams finish, government sources say, while civil servants will return to their workplaces on Monday.

Word of the relaxation followed an announcement by the city’s health chief that quarantine restrictions would be eased for some arrivals from mainland China, providing exemptions for cross-border pupils and people deemed economically important.

The decisions, which won instant support from the business sector, were made as the city recorded no new coronavirus cases for a third straight day on Tuesday. It was the fifth time in nine days there were no new Covid-19 infections, with the total number of cases still at 1,037.

On Tuesday morning, Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said there was a need to balance the impact of restrictions on the economy and people’s livelihoods with safety, and that timing the relaxation of rules was “not an exact science”.

“I want to stress there are fluctuations in the number of cases,” Lam said ahead of a meeting of her cabinet, the Executive Council. “So we cannot completely repeal these restrictions [in one go], and can only do so gradually.

“We may have to impose these restrictions again if necessary, until a vaccine is found and most people are immune. Only then can we let down our guard.”

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