Hong Kong social distancing: businesses tentatively welcome road map for easing restrictions, but many still have concerns
- A catering industry representative says the government should move faster in lifting all restrictions on restaurants
- An advocate for local bars owners, meanwhile, says he is sceptical the government will allow them to reopen as planned given its ‘frequent flip-flopping’
Hong Kong businesses have tentatively welcomed the government’s new road map for easing stringent anti-pandemic measures, though bar owners – among those hardest-hit by temporary shutdowns – have expressed scepticism that they will be allowed to reopen as planned given what they called authorities’ “frequent flip-flopping”.
Following the announcement of the new road map on Monday, the city’s battered catering industry also called on the government to lift all restrictions on restaurants in May, pointing to changes to Hong Kong’s vaccine pass scheme requiring all patrons to have received three doses of a coronavirus vaccine by then.
City leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor revealed on Monday that harsh social-distancing restrictions would be eased in three phases over a period of three months starting on April 21, provided there was no rebound in coronavirus cases.
In the first phase, gyms, game centres, beauty salons, massage parlours, places of worship and sport venues will be allowed to reopen, though groups will be capped at four people. Restaurants will be allowed to offer dine-in service until 10pm – up from 6pm currently – with four diners allowed per table, up from two.
Bars, however, will have to remain closed until the second round of rule-easing.
Licensed Bar and Club Association of Hong Kong charter president Ben Leung Lap-yan, who said he expected the second round to come in late May, expressed pessimism that the city’s 1,400 bars would be allowed to reopen even then, given the government’s track record. He noted that the bar industry had suffered losses totalling HK$700 million (US$89.5 million) per month after being forced to shut down in early January.
“We don’t hold out hope that we can reopen on May 21. We have gone through so many times of disappointment amid the government’s frequent flip-flopping in policymaking,” he said. “There have been many times we thought we could reopen our businesses despite the low caseload, but in the end we had to keep shutting our doors for a long time.”
Leung said the industry would be happy to have a concrete plan for when the city’s bars could reopen, “but the government’s policy direction is not clear and constantly changing”.
In addition to bars and pubs, all other types of business that were forced to close under the fifth wave – including party rooms, karaoke parlours, swimming pools and beaches – will be allowed to reopen during the second phase.
The cap on groups in restaurants and most other establishments will be raised to eight people, dine-in services will be extended to midnight and mask exemptions will be implemented for outdoor activities. Bars and pubs will be allowed to remain open until midnight or 2am, with a four-people cap at tables.
In the third phase, all caps on groups in restaurants and bars will be lifted and operating hours will be further extended. Lam on Monday did not offer an exact timeline for when the second and third phases would take place.
Ray Chui Man-wai, chairman of the catering industry group Institute of Dining Art, said that while they welcomed the relaxation of curbs on restaurants, the government should lift all restrictions in the second stage rather than waiting for the third.
He pointed out that the industry would have incurred losses of about HK$20 billion in revenue by April, with 700 or 800 outlets closing down for good.
“For the industry to be able to really recover, the government needs to lift all the business restrictions on restaurants in May,” he said. “By that time, Hongkongers would need to have three vaccine doses to eat in restaurants under the vaccine pass, while Hong Kong may have already achieved herd immunity.”
Other businesses also said the strict social-distancing rules had hurt their businesses, and warned that many firms would shut down permanently if they could not reopen on April 21.
Gordon Yau Yick-chung, of the Asian Academy for Sports and Fitness Professionals, said his industry had lost at least HK$1 billion since being forced to close in early January.
“The business owners are frustrated, as they can’t see any hope after a few rounds of temporary closures,” he said.
Yau noted that 200 of the 1,189 fitness centres in the city could shut down if they were not allowed to reopen next month.
“More personal trainers will rent a place for teaching instead of running a gym to prevent suffering from the rent if the antivirus fight continues,” he added.
Alan Kwok, who has run a private personal gym in Sheung Wan for four years, said he was losing HK$80,000 a month paying rent and salaries for his trainers thanks to the anti-epidemic restrictions.
“The government’s subsidies are still insufficient for many gym owners to pay for a month’s worth of expenses,” he said, adding that he could only stay afloat another three months.
“We are tired of the inconsistent policies from the government, especially the closure after we followed all the instructions during the pandemic.”
Daphne Pang, who owns two beauty shops, said she had lost at least HK$1 million during the fifth wave, and was still paying rent and the salaries of her 12 employees.
“We decided to get through the difficulties with our staff, although we were in a panic with the limited help from the authorities,” she said, while also faulting the government for the delay in distributing financial relief.
She warned that the frequent temporary closures of beauty shops would discourage newcomers from joining the industry, calling it “a huge loss” for the sector.
Blaming the government for the “loopholes” that led to the latest wave in the first place, Pang asked: “Why should we be responsible for their mistakes?”
Alex Ko Kin-Luen, chairman of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Mahjong Shops Association, said his sector was looking forward to resuming business in the second round of rule-easing.
“We are hopeful the pandemic situation will be under control, and it will take some time for business to recover – around two to three months,” he said.
“Any timetable is better than none,” he added, saying the industry would have a clearer picture of the situation after being back in business for six months.
