Coronavirus cases linked to Hong Kong bar spark fears in the industry, calls for tougher enforcement of rules

Two cases linked to a Tsim Sha Tsui bar prompt fears, vigilance in the battered industry

Nightlife magnate Allan Zeman, meanwhile, has called for bars to be stricter in their enforcement of new rules to avoid further closures

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Customers drink at a bar in Tsim Sha Tsui on Monday evening. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 10:00am, 6 Oct 2020Updated: 10:57pm, 6 Oct 2020

When Chandan Kumar, manager of the Old Monk Bar and Grill, discovered that a patron of a bar across the street from his establishment in Tsim Sha Tsui had tested positive for coronavirus, he was shocked.

“I immediately told my staff to remain extra vigilant,” he said.

Now, that bar across the street, China Secret, is at the centre of fears of a new coronavirus cluster, with officials asking police for help in tracking down customers and staff after a 22-year-old student and a Thai woman tested positive after visiting the bar in September, when about 20 other people were also there. Most have since been sent to quarantine, while police are still attempting to trace two other patrons.

China Secret is located on the third floor of the Lee Chau Commercial Building on Hart Avenue, and was shut on Monday.

The entrance of China Secret in Tsim Sha Tsui, which has seen two patrons test positive for Covid-19. Photo: Dickson Lee

Allan Zeman, the biggest landlord in Hong Kong’s famed nightlife district of Lan Kwai Fong, said the infections linked to China Secret were “unfortunate”, adding he hoped the virus had not spread to more places.

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