The new regulations are set to last a week. Restaurants were earlier banned from offering dine-in services between 6pm and 5am.

“It’s inconvenient but we have no choice because of Covid-19. Normally we’d go to a nearby eatery during lunch to sit down, relax, and cool down in the air-conditioned space,” said a 40-year-old construction worker surnamed Chan.

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Although some tables with partitions had been set up inside a construction site in Causeway Bay, Chan chose to not have his lunch there.

“I want to avoid crowded areas as much as possible. There’s a lot of dust and it’s really dirty inside, so I thought it would be better to eat here,” he said.

Another worker, surnamed Chow, who was having his lunch in a park, felt the government’s move was “completely unreasonable”.

“The Hong Kong government allowed foreigners in the city [through quarantine exemptions for seafarers and aircrew] to spread the disease. Why aren’t Hongkongers allowed to dine in when it’s so hot outside?” he told the media.

A worker known as Kam Fai, also at the site, said he was willing to bear the heat for the sake of public health. “The government implemented the rules because so many people are getting sick. I understand why it had to be done and I think it’s a good decision,” the 40 year-old Pakistani said.

Other blue-collar workers scrambled to find shelter outside shopping malls or on roadsides when it started raining.

At Polytechnic University in Hung Hom, a designated area was set up for contractual workers to have lunch on campus. Dozens of chairs with attached desks, as well as fans, were placed in an area in the podium for workers to eat and rest.

Meanwhile, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Wan Chai set up an area with tables and chairs for the public to eat from 7am to 10pm.

Some office workers took advantage of air-conditioned spaces in shopping malls, while others had to make do at parks or even under the shelter of bus terminuses.

Wong Ping, chairman of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, said many construction workers might have to eat on the streets, or gather inside cramped resting areas at building sites.

“Rooms designated for workers to take a break on construction sites have limited space. If many workers gather there to have their meals, the infection risks might still be high,” Wong told a radio programme on Wednesday morning.

He urged employers to allow construction workers to have lunch in batches for more flexibility, as smaller groups might help reduce health risks.

Denny To Chun-ho, of the Cleaning Industry Service Workers Union, told the same radio programme that some cleaners might have to have their lunch at parks or even inside public toilets following the government’s latest regulations.

“Although the government’s intentions behind implementing the measures may be good, officials have missed out on the needs of many who work outdoors,” he said.

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“Cleaners at public refuse collection points have to work in very unhygienic environments. The [government] move will not benefit but only harm them.”

But Hung, a street cleaner at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, said she was lucky to have a space to enjoy her meal.

“The new rule doesn’t make much of a difference for me. I bring my own lunch and eat at a designated area for workers,” she said.

Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, a respiratory medicine expert with Chinese University, said the government “had no choice” but to ban dine-in services to reduce the chance of people spreading Covid-19.

With Hong Kong recording more than 100 infections every day for the last eight days, Hui said the rule would have to be in place for at least two weeks to show any positive results.

“Luckily there has been no exponential rise in infections but we’ll need to wait for the number of cases to steadily drop before the measures can be relaxed,” he said.

“The ventilation is better outdoors and more importantly, you won’t be sitting face-to-face, so the risk of infection is lower. But one downside [of eating outdoors] is the difficulty of finding a place to wash your hands, so people should be prepared and carry disinfecting wipes and hand sanitisers with them.”

The government has ordered most of the city’s 180,000 civil servants who were not providing essential or urgent services to work from home from July 20 until Sunday, with the measure expected to be extended further.

Most post offices will maintain their normal opening hours but close early at 4pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week. Those in Wong Tai Sin district, a major Covid-19 hotspot, have suspended services.

More than 100 people queued up at the General Post Office in Central on Wednesday morning for various needs. Among them was 73-year-old Peter Chan, who went there to pay his bills.

“Unless you don’t plan to go out, there’s always a risk of getting infected. So, you can’t be scared,” he said.

“I think the post office should open every day so less people will congregate in the same area. If government officials don’t come and personally see the queues themselves, they won’t know what people have to face.”

Kyoko Taniguchi, 54, the general manager of an electronic parts company, said she had not expected she would have to wait for more than an hour to buy stamps and was worried about the lack of social-distancing at the post office.

“People are standing so close to each other in a queue, though everyone is wearing a mask,” she said.

Additional reporting by Chan Ho-him and Elizabeth Cheung