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HONG KONG: Hong Kong to reopen gyms and massage parlors and extend late-night meal hours starting Friday (Sept. 4), easing harsh coronavirus restrictions as new daily infections in the Asian financial hub drop to a single digit.
Restaurants will be allowed to stay open one hour past the current 9:00 p.m. M., While gyms and entertainment venues such as clubs may reopen, said Sophia Chan, the city’s health secretary.
However, the ban on gatherings of more than two people remains, Chan added, saying that while city authorities were relaxing some social distancing measures, residents needed to remain vigilant.
“We have yet to see a stable situation,” he told a news conference. “Everyone must maintain a certain degree of social distancing.”
READ: Hong Kong will resume face-to-face classes at the school at the end of September
The announcement came as the Chinese government offered massive virus testing for Hong Kong residents starting this week.
The free voluntary tests are part of an attempt to stamp out a third wave of infections that began in late June and saw the densely populated city reimpose financially painful social distancing measures.
But the program has been hampered by a limited response due to the involvement of mainland Chinese medical and testing companies, and public fears of DNA and data collection as Beijing cracks down on calls for democratic reform.
Since registration began on Saturday, 650,000 people have signed up for the free trials, about 9 percent of the city’s 7.5 million residents.
The annual fireworks display to mark China’s National Day on October 1 will be canceled for the second year in a row.
“In response to the latest COVID-19 epidemic situation, the National Day fireworks … will be canceled,” the government said in a statement about the annual celebrations, which generally take place near picturesque Victoria Harbor.
Hong Kong schools will resume face-to-face teaching from 23 September, among easing measures that have kept 900,000 students working at home for more than four months.
Kevin Yeung, the city’s education secretary, said the resumption would be staggered and grades 1, 5 and 6 would resume for secondary schools, elementary schools and upper kindergartens on September 23, while the other grades would open. on September 29.
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