Shawn Tan
Hong Kong will be looking to ease social distancing rules from Friday, 11 Sep. Ministers say this will apply to sports facilities, restaurants and public gatherings. The change in restrictions comes after the dropping of the city’s COVID-19 cases to single-digit numbers.
With Hong Kong’s move to ease social distancing rules, the public can now dine in groups of no more than 4, as well as using some outdoor and sporting facilities.
That said, authorities are still taking the relaxation of rules slowly and cautiously, bearing in mind the recent third wave of coronavirus cases the city went through.
“The enhanced checking and active participation of the community [in mass testing] will give added comfort to our partners that Hong Kong is a safer place for such exchange,” said commerce minister Edward Yau Tang-wah.
“But I shouldn’t give members of the community a false illusion that [the travel bubbles] could be done within days. The situation remains fluid and could change depending on circumstances.”
Theme parks will have to wait
The latest move to ease social distancing rules is similar to Singapore’s version of ‘Phase 2’, which kickstarted in June 19 this year and is still the status quo for Singapore’s social distancing regulations.
Also read: Phase 2: 7 Things You Can Now Do in Singapore
However, unlike Phase 2 in Singapore where Universal Studios Singapore was allowed to resume operations, Hong Kong’s theme parks, like Hong Kong Disneyland, and exhibition centres will have to wait till next week to reopen, with 18 Sep set as the date should circumstances permit.
While coronavirus numbers are entering a healthy level, new unlinked cases still being reported. Hence, the Hong Kong government is trying to achieve a balance where citizens can start to get back to a life resembling more of the pre-COVID days, while keeping figures and the spread down.
Plans in the works to ease restrictions further
The next step in Hong Kong’s plan to reopen the city is to resume face-to-face classes on 23 Sep for about 900,000 students, who have been having their own version of home-based learning for more than 4 months.
