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HONG KONG – The Hong Kong government has taken steps to toughen social distancing measures, including a ban on dancing in bars and pubs, as the travel bubble deal with Singapore is at stake.
In a statement issued on Saturday (November 21) morning, the government said that live performances and dancing in bars and pubs will be banned, while venues such as nightclubs intended for holding social gatherings will be banned. They will be forced to close from Sunday for five days until November 26. .
Business owners who violate these new rules can be fined up to HK $ 50,000 (S $ 8,665) and jailed for six months.
Executive Director Carrie Lam echoed the words of health authorities in a Facebook post early Saturday morning, saying the pandemic in the city has reached a “serious” stage.
A meeting was called on Friday night and the government has unveiled more measures against the coronavirus to be announced on Saturday, he said.
“Our priority now is to quickly cut transmission through testing,” he said, adding that he has requested that those considered high risk be tested and that his team find more ways to encourage voluntary testing.
The development follows a spike in new Covid-19 infections on Friday, prompting Health Secretary Sophia Chan to warn that Hong Kong “has likely entered a new wave of cases.”
Health officials and infectious disease experts in the city have warned for weeks of the impending fourth wave of the pandemic, with the latter saying on Friday they believe the new wave has arrived.
The Straits Times understands that the Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble, with the first flight scheduled to take off on Sunday, could fail, depending on the Covid-19 cases on Saturday.
Under the deal that was announced in mid-October, bubble flights will be suspended for two weeks if the seven-day moving average of the daily number of unrelated local Covid-19 cases is greater than five for Singapore or Hong Kong.
The territory’s moving average on Friday was 2.14, but the number of new infections on Saturday will be crucial in determining whether the threshold is exceeded.
According to The Straits Times’ checks, the threshold could be exceeded if the local unlinked cases on Saturday reached 20.
Hong Kong added 26 confirmed cases as of Friday, bringing the confirmed case count to 5,517 and 108 deaths. Another 40 people tested positive in preliminary tests, and authorities said many of them are local cases.
The Hong Kong Tourism Commission, in response to The Straits Times, said the travel bubble can be adjusted at any time by increasing or reducing designated flights, or suspending them altogether.
If the threshold of five is exceeded, the travel bubble “will be suspended in two days (including the day the figure was announced) for two weeks.”
“The two governments will notify the airlines and make the relevant announcement,” he said, adding that if the figure remains below five for both cities on the last day of the suspension, the travel bubble may resume the next day.
The tourism commission added that in the event of suspension of the travel bubble, Singapore citizens, permanent residents or long-term pass holders can return to Singapore from Hong Kong on bubble-free flights, but will be subject to agreements. Singapore quarantine as the seven-day stay-at-home notice.
Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, responding to public concerns about the possible impact on the travel bubble, said the governments of Singapore and Hong Kong are in close contact on the situation.
In Hong Kong, high-risk groups such as taxi drivers and nursing home staff are required to undergo mandatory testing for the virus, while patients who show symptoms when visiting the doctor must also do so.
On November 14, the Hong Kong government had moved to toughen social distancing rules after spotting clusters among taxi drivers and at a Lantau resort.
Since Monday, dinner services ended two hours early at midnight, while the limit for customers per table was lowered to four from six. In bars and pubs, the number is reduced to two. The measures will last until November 26.
Given the popularity of closed-border stays, officials are seeking to impose a four-person maximum rule in each room at resorts, hotels and guesthouses, the same limit as public gatherings in Hong Kong.
The government has tightened visiting arrangements for those serving mandatory 14-day quarantine periods after returning from abroad.
It is now considering giving a one-time subsidy to grassroots workers if they are confirmed to be infected.
On the other hand, the government is dealing with an outbreak of upper respiratory infection in schools.
Eight cases have been reported in eight elementary schools and Professor Chan said that as of November 23, face-to-face classes for the lower levels of primary school (Standards 1 to 3) will be suspended for two weeks. He said classes in all schools could be canceled if the situation worsened.
This Friday decision was made just over a week after kindergartens were ordered to close for two weeks due to the very nature of the infections.
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