Libraries will gradually reopen after closing to slow the virus outbreak.Some public facilities, including several libraries, will reopen on Wednesday after more than a month of shutdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) announced on Saturday.
The adult, young adult and children’s libraries of Hong Kong Central Library and six other major public libraries, namely City Hall Public Library, Kowloon Public Library, Tsuen Wan Public Library, Sha Tin Public Library, Tuen Mun Public Library and Ping Shan Tin Shui Wai Public Library, will open on Wednesday with special opening hours: from 1 to 8pm on weekdays and Saturdays; and from 9 am to 5 pm on Sundays and public holidays.
The libraries will arrange admission by sessions, with each session lasting about one hour. Admission slips will be distributed on a first-come first-served basis every session.
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All book drop services of the Hong Kong Public Libraries have already resumed. Public libraries will continue to provide online services such as e-Books and e-Databases.
The indoor leisure venues that have been set to reopen included badminton courts, squash courts, table tennis rooms/tables, a cycling track, indoor golf driving bays, indoor bowling greens, indoor jogging tracks and indoor tennis courts. Changing rooms and showering facilities, however, will be temporarily closed.
Other team games facilities at multi-purpose arenas will continue to be closed until further notice. The facilities include basketball courts, volleyball courts and netball courts, activity rooms, dance rooms, fitness rooms, children’s play rooms and study rooms.
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Various LCSD cultural and leisure facilities, including sports grounds except for running tracks, grass pitches, artificial turf soccer pitches, public swimming pools, and beaches will also be temporarily closed.
The Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, the Hong Kong Film Archive and the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware will partially open their exhibition facilities on Wednesday as well.
They will only open from 10 am to 5 pm daily. The Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Hong Kong Heritage Museum will arrange visits by sessions, each lasting two hours, to limit visitor flow.