Hong Kong returns to night dining ban, shuts gyms as cases spike

[HONG KONG] Hong Kong will cut off dining in at restaurants from 6pm local time and close gyms and beauty salons, as the government returns to some of the broadest measures since the pandemic began amid a growing surge in cases.

"We have no choice," Chief Executive Carrie Lam said as she announced the dining restrictions at a weekly press briefing Tuesday. She did not say when the new restrictions would take effect. "We all need to be mentally prepared about more measures to be rolled out."

The Asian financial hub is struggling to contain its latest wave of Covid-19 infections, with case numbers often exceeding 100 a day last week - the most since August. That's prompted the government to gradually raise its social distancing measures, recently raising fines for those breaching restrictions and sending civil servants back to working from home.

The new wave has already delayed a Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble, a blow to efforts to reopen a city whose economy has been rocked by protests and the pandemic.

Activists, meanwhile, have worried that authorities are using virus-related restrictions to curb their ability to gather for demonstrations.

Ms Lam urged employers to allow work from home arrangements, and said the flow of people on the streets needed to be reduced.

"Unless it is necessary, please stay at home, work from home," she said.

BLOOMBERG