Hong Kong Reopens Bars, Beaches in Acceleration of Covid Easing

Hong Kong is speeding up its reopening plans as Covid cases drop, easing mask-wearing rules and allowing more leisure venues to reopen, despite continued circulation of the pathogen that has led most rival financial hubs to live with the virus.

The new measures mean that people will no longer have to wear masks while exercising outdoors and that beaches and swimming pools will reopen on May 5. On May 19 dining-in at restaurants will be extended to midnight, while bars can stay open until 2 a.m., Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a briefing on Tuesday.

The earlier-than- expected easing comes as infections drop to the low triple digits after reaching a peak of over 50,000 in a devastating omicron wave that became the deadliest outbreak in the world earlier this year. Hong Kong may be taking a less doctrinaire approach to maintaining China's zero-tolerance approach, even as officials continue to voice their backing of Beijing's Covid Zero strategy.

Hong Kong's residents have only just begun to emerge from restrictions put in place during the Covid surge that began at the start of the year. Bars and many public venues were ordered closed in January, while beaches were shut in March after criticisms from the mainland over the seeming lack of enforcement of outbreak measures in the city.

Trailing Rivals

While the changes suggest Hong Kong is slowly creeping toward the end of the Covid tunnel, the city is still far behind regional rivals like Singapore, where borders have been reopened and life has largely returned to pre-pandemic standards. Other limitations, particularly on new arrivals, remain strict.

The number of people at a bar should be limited to four per table. Restaurants can allow eight to eat together, up from four previously, in time for Mother's Day, which will allow three generations of families to gather together.

She said that since the Mother's Day is coming, she will have eight diners at restaurants earlier.

The second stage of easing is going on as planned since case counts didn't rebound after dining-in after 6 p.m. The number of positive samples detected from sewage monitoring has fallen, providing confidence that reopening would be safe.

The healthcare workers from mainland China are leaving Hong Kong. The last team will leave on May 7.