Hong Kong third wave: customers happy as restaurants reopen after short ban, but sector still struggling with Covid-19 hitting revenues
- Construction workers glad to be back in eateries after two days of lunching by roadside
- Government’s quick policy U-turn catches some businesses off guard
Blue-collar workers could not wait to return to air-conditioned eateries, a day after the government bowed to public pressure as workers were left eating lunch at parks, construction sites and by the road under oppressive heat and heavy rain.
Many restaurants were caught off guard and remained closed on Friday, with the ban being lifted 48 hours after coming into effect.
On Lockhart Road in Causeway Bay, Chinese dim sum restaurant Sun Sun, which has been shut since July 29 because of the tightened social-distancing rules, did not reopen, while nearby, on Tang Lung Street, five out of a dozen restaurants remained closed.
Lai, a construction worker in his 60s, went to a Causeway Bay restaurant he often visits opposite the building site, at 11.30am. He said he felt good being able to enjoy his lunch break indoors.