Hong Kong will ease some social distancing measures including dining restrictions from later this month as the city is recovering from its largest outbreak of the coronavirus, the city government said Thursday.
The city has seen a fifth wave of COVID-19 infections fueled by the Omicron coronavirus variant since January, recording nearly 77,000 daily cases in early March. But cases gradually declined in the past month and decreased to 1,043 on Thursday.
Under the measures to be relaxed from Thursday next week, restaurants will be allowed to open until 10 p.m. while they have been obliged to close at 6 p.m. since early January, the government said.
The limit on the number of people per restaurant table will be raised to four from two currently.
Most sporting, cultural, religious and entertainment premises such as fitness centers, libraries, cinemas and theme parks, including Hong Kong Disneyland, have been ordered to close amid the fifth wave but they will be allowed to reopen.
But bars and pubs, as well as beaches and pools, will remain closed even under the eased policy.
The government will also lift a ban on gatherings of more than two households in private places and permit gathering at public places, with up to four people.
To date, Hong Kong has seen over 1 million coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic in early 2020, with nearly 9,000 COVID-related deaths.
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