Hong Kong Forces More Social Distancing

Carrie Lam's slogan today behind her says: "Stay Home, Keep Safe"

Today there was a shocking record of 65 new cases for Hong Kong, most of them again are residents who have come back from overseas, and still more from Lan Kwai Fong.

So Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has to come up with tougher measures to ensure more social distancing, but they are still kind of murky.

At around 5.30pm there was a collective groan in media circles when there was an announcement she would be holding a press conference in an hour... on a Friday...

She and her cabinet introduced new measures to start Saturday

All week there had been an outcry from the bar and restaurant community about her proposal on Monday to ban the sale of alcohol in establishments that have a liquor license. There was even an online petition going around with almost 5,000 signatures from the food and beverage industry against this idea.

It also turns out Lam didn't even seek the advice members from the executive council or her team of infectious disease experts, as they all preferred to use other ways of limiting social gatherings.

So she followed their advice. Describing now as a "public emergency situation", Lam announced that restaurants and bars can only have a maximum of four people per table, and each table should be 1.5 metres apart, and that these places should only hold half their capacity starting from tomorrow for the next two weeks.

In addition all staff need to wear masks, guests' temperatures need to be taken and hand sanitizer should be available.

Insomnia was one of the bars with many infections

The 50 percent capacity will put some restaurants in a bind -- can they make enough money to pay rent, staff, food and utilities? Is it worth even opening?

Many will probably continue to focus on takeaway to reduce their losses somewhat. It's a tough call.

Lam also announced the following establishments will be closed for two weeks starting from 6pm tomorrow: cinemas, fitness centres, saunas, party rooms, gaming centres and places of amusement, such as pool halls. Does that extend to mahjong parlours? Those tables are less than one-metre long and people are sitting there playing for hours...

In any event, spot checks will be carried out by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, and violators in the catering industry will be subject to a maximum fine of HK$50,000 (US$6,450) and six months' in jail. People who flout the public gathering law will be fined HK$25,000 and six months in jail.

Restaurants will have to halve their capacity tomorrow

Hope that's enough of a deterrent to get people to do some serious social distancing.

Meanwhile Lam downplayed the U-turn on her idea of banning alcohol in bars and restaurants.

"The community so far agreed that a ban on liquor is not the right antidote in minimizing social interactions under a public emergency situation," she said. "We will instead enforce two laws to enhance social distancing."

Gatherings that do not fall under the four-person rule are: weddings, funerals, government functions, and workplace meetings. Banquet restrictions will be decided later, Lam said.

While she added the government would provide financial assistance to the catering industry, she was vague on specifics, and appealed to employers not to lay off staff in the near future.

Gatherings at weddings and funerals will be allowed

Does she even know the financial pressure in running a restaurant? Many cannot afford to keep staff when there's no business...

What's interesting to observe is that Lam will float an idea, or announce a measure, and when her panel of infectious disease experts don't think it's stringent enough, they will go to the media to express their opinions.

Then a day or two later Lam follows their advice.

Why doesn't she just listen to them in the first place? Why have an expert panel and not follow their advice? She is wasting precious time in containing the virus in Hong Kong...