Hong Kong officials reverse ban on dine-in restaurants after public criticism

Hong Kong officials reversed an all-day ban on dining inside restaurants after the measure was met with criticism.

Officials changed their position about the decision after photos emerged online, showing residents eating outside in poor conditions, dodging heavy rainstorms while otherwise seeking shelter in the shade from the heat, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The rules were originally put in place to limit indoor activity and maintain distance to curb the coronavirus’s spread as cases across the city of 7.5 million people rise in a third virus outbreak.

On Thursday, Hong Kong health officials reported a record of 149 new cases, marking the ninth straight day of new infections counted above 100 per day.

Because the city is not in full lockdown, the government’s ability to control activities such as dining out has not stopped many Hong Kong residents from continuing their daily work, such as using public transport or going into offices.

“Restrictions on dining are useful in cutting the community transmission chain,” said David Hui, director of the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Stanley Ho Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases. 

Still, Hui added that the current 90-degree temperatures in the city, combined “without easy access to space and water taps is undesirable.”

Before lifting the ban on dining in restaurants, the government announced Wednesday it would open community centers throughout the city for people to dine.

The restrictions were reversed on Thursday, with a government spokesperson admitting that it “understood the inconveniences and difficulties it brought to people who had to work.”

Restaurants will still have a curfew set between 6 p.m. and 4:59 a.m., with limitations in place to operate businesses at half capacity and no more than two people to a table.

The stringent measures in place follow an uptick in virus infections that broke out in July. The most recent outbreak is believed by officials to have crossed into the city from air and sea crew workers who were previously exempted from pandemic measures.

Hong Kong has recorded a total of 3,151 cases and 24 deaths from the virus.