Coronavirus: residents flock to restaurants, theme parks and cinemas as Hong Kong eases social-distancing curbs

Bookings at premises from beauty parlours to restaurants and cinemas surge as residents embrace a return to some semblance of normal life

Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily says Hongkongers must remain cautious about a potential rebound in cases

4-MIN READ4-MIN

Visitors flock to Disneyland after it reopened to the public on Thursday. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Cannix Yau,Tiffany Liang,Lo Hoi-ying,Rachel YeoandKathleen Magramo

Published: 9:07am, 21 Apr 2022Updated: 9:42pm, 21 Apr 2022

Hong Kong eased some of its toughest social-distancing measures on Thursday, triggering a “revenge-spending” spree by leisure-starved residents who flooded the streets, flocked to shopping centres, swarmed amusement parks and entertainment venues, and booked out restaurants, which opened for nighttime dining for the first time in more than three months.

Health authorities reported a daily Covid-19 infection total well below 700 again, reflecting the improving situation that has prompted authorities to go ahead with the first phase of a staggered reopening plan covering venues ranging from cinemas, concert halls, museums and libraries to sports grounds, gyms, bowling alleys and places of worship.

But as residents embraced a return to some semblance of normal life, the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily warned the city must remain cautious over a possible rebound in infections.

“Hong Kong’s epidemic situation is going in a good direction, but [we] can’t afford to be careless,” it said in a commentary, adding that enforcing the nation’s “dynamic-zero” infection strategy was a prerequisite for resuming quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and mainland China. “The epidemic control in Hong Kong forms a part of the national anti-pandemic strategy.”