“We hope life can return to normal gradually with these venues reopening in stages, but some will reopen in the next phase after further consideration,” Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee told a radio programme, adding the government might step up social-distancing rules again if the latest relaxation saw a “dissatisfactory result”.

Bars can begin serving again, as long as they operate at half capacity, host no live music or karaoke, and close dance floors, while no more than four people can sit at each table.

For weddings, 50 people can now be present, as opposed to 20 previously. Hong Kong’s 2,500 listed companies can hold shareholder meetings on public premises, capped at 50 people, with food and drink banned.

The conditions attached for the eight types of businesses allowed to reopen include keeping customers 1.5 metres apart, with groups limited to eight people.

Patrons are required to wear masks when not eating, drinking, exercising, or having beauty treatments and staff must also take customers’ temperatures and provide hand sanitiser, according to the guidelines.

100,000 Hongkongers apply for free mask scheme in first hour

For gyms, there must be 1.5 metres – or effective partitioning – between equipment, while machines should be disinfected before and after each use. A maximum of eight people, including the instructor, can take part in group training or classes.

The 1.5-metre rule also applies to beauty parlours and massage centres, while staff must wear protective gear at all times when providing services. Towels and consumables must be changed after each use, and steam machines and vaporised chemicals are prohibited.

Cinemas are limited to running half full, no more than eight people can sit consecutively in each row and eating or drinking is barred inside the theatre.

At other public entertainment venues, such as pool halls, bowling alleys, and ice rinks, groups are limited to eight, and facilities must be disinfected before use.

However, nightclubs, saunas, party rooms and karaoke lounges must remain closed until further notice.

The government said it would also permit gatherings of up to eight people in public and in restaurants, double the number previously allowed, starting on Friday.

When this rule was first enforced in late March, exemptions applied to the workplace, public transport, weddings of under 20 people, funerals, government buildings and council meetings. This week’s easing also broadens the exemptions already in place for the courts.

Newlywed Hugo Ho said increasing wedding capacity only made a small difference to him because he had limited invitations to close family.

“We had the ceremony in April, but decided to postpone the banquet to July. So for us, the relaxation to eight people per table in restaurants allows us to carry on with the banquet, but we might need to increase the number of tables, as originally we planned to have 30 tables with 12 guests on each,” he said.

Simon Wong Ka-wo, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said many in the industry had received bookings for Mother’s Day and wedding banquets after Tuesday’s announcement.

“Most of the wedding banquets were cancelled earlier, but given they can now hold ceremonies with 50 people, plus organise wedding banquets with eight people per table, many couples would like to reschedule their wedding to this month,” he said.

“Restaurants might have to put out fewer tables as we have to keep a 1.5-metre distance but that should be acceptable.”

Ray Or Chuen-ting, convenor of the Alliance of Fitness, Combat and Sports, said some restrictions meant business would not be able to get back into full swing.

Planning flurry as Hong Kong schools prepare for return to campus

“We are able to keep a distance between equipment such as punching bags, but for bigger and heavier equipment, fitness centres may not have enough space to move them apart, so they might only be partially open for use,” he said.

“And for some of the centres that offer most teaching in big groups, they would continue to suffer as the revenue might not cover overhead expenses.”

Those who break social-distancing laws can be fined up to HK$25,000 (US$3,225) and jailed for six months, though police can issue a fixed penalty of HK$2,000.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Health Protection announced that its scientific committee on emerging and zoonotic diseases had revised hospital discharge criteria for Covid-19 patients. Under the latest recommendations, patients with the coronavirus could be released from isolation if they tested positive for the antibody of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Previously, patients could only leave hospital if they tested negative for the virus twice at least 24 hours apart.

The centre said some patients might have prolonged viral RNA shedding, leading to positive test results, but the committee agreed that current evidence did not support that such shedding would mean those patients were infectious.