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Coronavirus pandemic
Hong KongHealth & Environment

‘Everything will go back to zero’: Hong Kong businesses cry foul over abrupt return of tough social-distancing measures

  • Food and beverage sector representatives say their industry will be the ‘biggest victim’, predicting billions in losses
  • But gym operators, massage parlours and concert organisers are all poised to feel the pinch as well

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Dine-in services at local restaurants will be sharply curtailed under the new social-distancing rules. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Christy Leung,Lo Hoi-yingandYvonne Mengping Lai
The abrupt return of tough anti-pandemic restrictions amid a local Omicron outbreak has been met with shock and dismay by affected industries, with the beleaguered catering sector in particular crying foul, predicting losses of up to HK$8 billion (US$1.03 billion) as a result.
The revival of strict social-distancing rules will see dine-in service in restaurants end at 6pm, reduced caps on the number of patrons eateries can seat and the closure of 15 types of businesses – including fitness centres, beauty parlours, cinemas, theme parks, bars and pubs – for two weeks starting on Friday.
Simon Wong Ka-wo, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, which represents more than 8,000 eateries, said the rule change came as a shock, particularly after city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said just a day before that there were no plans for fresh coronavirus restrictions.

“January and February are the peak seasons for restaurants due to Chinese Near Year. We had already received many reservations, hired temporary workers and ordered food to cope with the peaks. Now they are no longer needed. The announcement poses a great loss to our business,” he said.

Wong predicted the new rules would wipe out some 40 per cent of the sector’s revenues for the month of January – or some HK$4 billion – just in the two-week period delineated by authorities. Even if the restrictions ended then, he said, reluctance to dine out could linger through the Lunar New Year period, causing that figure to double.

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