Hong Kong people’s hopes of “lifting the ban” under the Lunar New Year epidemic are frozen! Affected by the two sides of the mutant virus Omicron and Delta, the number of confirmed cases has increased exponentially. The government said yesterday that there is little chance of significantly lifting the “closed business order” such as the ban on dine-in in the evening market on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. Vigorously promote the “vaccine bubble”, requiring citizens to have injections when entering, and details are expected to be announced within this week. Some catering industry points out that business has plummeted by 40% this month, and the situation will be even worse in the next one to two months. The industry that has been suspended stated that the implementation of the vaccine bubble will have a certain impact on business, and that the measures should be implemented “indiscriminately” and that shopping malls with high traffic should not be exempted.
In response to the epidemic, the government banned dine-in in the evening market at the beginning of this month, requiring 15 types of premises such as beauty salons and fitness centers to close, and considering whether to relax relevant measures on the fourth day of the new year according to the epidemic situation. It is just over a week before the fourth day of the lunar new year. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor admitted yesterday that Hong Kong is affected by the spread of the virus among flight crews, quarantined Pakistani women and imported hamsters. It is studying whether the measures can be fine-tuned, but it is necessary to intensify efforts to promote “vaccine bubbles”, and “strictly” require citizens to enter the premises for injections, and call on the public to reduce gatherings during the holiday, including cross-family gatherings.
“Nothing to eat, porridge is good”
Ip Shih-hung, the founding chairman of the Hong Kong Beauty Industry Association, pointed out that the government has indicated that there will be a limited relaxation after the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. The peak season before the Lunar New Year, together with indirectly affected upstream suppliers, is estimated to cost the entire industry chain 3 billion yuan. He bitterly pointed out that the business is now closed several times a year, which is a huge blow to the industry. He also pointed out that the funding from the Anti-epidemic Fund is only a drop in the bucket.
Regarding vaccine bubbles or conditions for resumption of business, Ye Shixiong said, “Is it possible that the industry will not accept it now?” He hoped that the number of people in the premises could be limited according to the area. He also asked the government not to implement arrangements only for prohibited premises, otherwise it would be against logic. Beauty salons are small and medium-sized enterprises with only a few customers per hour. Vaccine bubbles should be implemented indiscriminately in crowded shopping malls. He also pointed out that the vaccination rate in the industry has reached 94%, and the implementation of the vaccine bubble only affects customers. He believes that the current vaccination rate in Hong Kong is over 70%, and the business will have a proportional impact of 30%.
Catering business plummeted by 40%
Huang Jiahe, president of the Food and Beverage Association, pointed out yesterday that he was pessimistic about relaxing social distancing measures, and he expected the situation to be bleak in the next one to two months. Small restaurants only have daytime dine-in hours, and takeaway business cannot make up for the loss of restaurants. The business of the catering industry has plummeted by 40% this month. Fortunately, there has not been a wave of restaurant closures. He pointed out that the current vaccination rate in the catering industry has reached 78%. He believes that under the vaccine bubble, it is safer for the public to enter restaurants. He hopes that the government can relax the dine-in hours in the evening market.