A government staff member puts a wristband on a person who had undergone compulsory testing during a targeted testing operation in To Kwa Wan on Feb 9, 2021. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong will allow restaurant dining-in services until 10 pm and relax other social-distancing rules after the Chinese New Year as the city on Wednesday reported 17 new COVID-19 cases. 

The city will permit four people per dining table, doubling from the current limit of two, starting from Feb 18, if the virus remains contained over the Lunar New Year, officials said at a briefing on Wednesday.

The city will permit four people per dining table, doubling from the current limit of two, starting from Feb 18, if the virus remains contained over the Lunar New Year, officials said at a briefing on Wednesday

“We are cautiously positive on the epidemic,” Food and Health Secretary Sophia Chan said in a media briefing. “If Hong Kong residents continue to observe social-distancing rules, following this trend, we hope we can resume normal life after Lunar New Year.”

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Hong Kong will require staff to get tested every 14 days if businesses want to reopen. Those who test negative should keep their test results for police checks. 

Restaurant operators should also ask customers to use the LeaveHomeSafe app, Chan said.

She said the other venues that would be allowed to reopen to a limited extent include all outdoor and indoor sport premises, fitness centers, beauty and massage parlors, theme parks, museums, cinemas, family entertainment centers, bowling allies, and amusement and game centers.

Restaurants and other indoor venues would also be asked to provide better ventillation for their patrons, Chan said.

The government is also discussing relaxing the rule on public gathering rule to four people as well, from the current limit of two, she added.

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The Asian financial hub has seen cases fading to a few dozens in the past week, after Hong Kong deployed compulsory testing and neighborhood lockdowns in an attempt to achieve zero cases in the community. The closure of schools and some businesses has been in place for over two months, and has been extended into the New Year holidays.

Chan said indicators showed that the government’s large-scale compulsory testing had put the pandemic “under control” in Hong Kong.  

“The numbers have shown us that this strategy is a success...In just two weeks, through intensive compulsory testing, we have gradually put the pandemic under control,” Chan said. 

“I would like to first thank the public’s cooperation, the patience and understanding of the affected sectors, as well as the endeavors of the anti-epidemic teams working around the clock. This is a success shared by everyone,” she added.

Chan said from a peak average of 75 infections a day in late January, Hong Kong is now seeing an average of 30 cases a day. She added that the number of untraceable infections was also down to an average of seven cases a day.

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In the same briefing, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection's communicable disease branch, said that the 17 new virus cases included four untraceable infections.

She added that 20 persons tested preliminarily positive.    

Normal public services to resume

Also on Wednesday, the government said its departments will fully resume normal public services from Feb 18 given the latest developments of the COVID-19 situation. 

The government said its departments will fully resume normal public services from Feb 18 given the latest developments of the COVID-19 situation

As individual bureaus and departments may require more time to carry out necessary manpower deployment, procure supplies and need to comply with anti-epidemic regulations, some of their services may be resumed later.

Those bureaus and departments will separately make announcements of their latest service arrangements.

In a separate release, a government spokesman said government employees and members of the public will be required to use the LeaveHomeSafe mobile app before entering government buildings or offices effective March 1.

In another development, a panel of experts postponed a decision on recommending a second vaccine for the city. It announced they will seek more data from Sinovac Biotech Ltd on its vaccine before it meets again in two weeks to review its emergency use application.

Professor Wallace Lau Chak-sing, convenor of the panel, said they wanted data on whether there was any difference in the vaccine’s efficacy if its second dose is administered on the 14th day or on the 28th day after the first dose.

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The vaccine developed by BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc already received a greenlight last month. The city is expected to start its inoculation program as early as the end of February.

With Bloomberg inputs