Coronavirus: 1,200 pubs and bars in Hong Kong to close as government orders two-week shutdown
- Any premises ‘exclusively or mainly used’ for sale or supply of alcohol must shut from 6pm on Friday to curb Covid-19’s spread
- Ministers make order under emergency powers as 37 new coronavirus infections take city’s total to 802
The Hong Kong government has ordered a two-week closure of pubs and bars from Friday, in a drastic escalation of social-distancing rules which will mothball about 1,200 businesses.
Those who break the new emergency measure under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance, which kicks in at 6pm, face the prospect of a HK$50,000 fine (US$6,450) and six months in jail.
The bar industry accused officials of singling it out, while the government was pilloried for not taking action earlier, and legal experts described the plan as fraught with potential loopholes.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday night, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said the shutdown was needed given that 69 local Covid-19 cases involved visits to bars or pubs. Among those infected through chains of infection was a 40-day-old baby, she added.
Calling bars and pubs “high-risk areas” she said the spread of infection through the community “rang the bell” for intervention.
