The limitation on restaurant dine-in services will be the first restrictions to be lifted if Hong Kong continues to see a dip in COVID-19 cases, authorities said Friday.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam said in an afternoon press conference that the government is in talks with representatives from the hard-hit restaurant industry on how to safely reverse the ban on dining in after 6pm. As the numbers fall, the reopening of beauty salons, cinemas and gyms will also follow suit.
“The coming week is crucial in discussing whether or not to resume dine-in services at night,” Lam said.
Since recording a 12-day streak of over a hundred new cases a day in late July to early this month, the figures have trended downwards in recent weeks. The number of cases with no known transmission source has also fallen significantly, suggesting there are fewer asymptomatic patients in the community.
In the past seven days (including today), an average of 39 cases have been recorded. There were 27 new infections today and 18 yesterday, though authorities have attributed the lower numbers to a slowdown in testing due to the typhoon signal no. 8 on Tuesday.
Lam also announced more details about the universal COVID-19 testing scheme that is set to start on September 1. Residents below the age of six will be able to register online and choose a time slot and testing location among the 150 stations set up at community centers and schools across the city’s 18 districts.
Those who test positive will be contacted by the health department, while those who return a negative test will be notified via text message.
Emphasizing repeatedly that the increase in testing has been made possible by the support of mainland Chinese medical officials in Hong Kong, Lam played down privacy concerns associated with the scheme and said mainland staff are only involved in laboratory work.
“We hope more people participate, and we have made it very simple to do so. You or your family member just have to register online… show up and someone will take your sample,” she added.
She said the effectiveness of the scheme will depend on how many people take the test, though she clarified that the government does not have a set target in mind.
