Hong Kong relaxes more social distancing measures, as schools prep for reopening

In this picture taken on April 4, 2020, a worker wearing a face mask, amid concerns of the COVID-19 coronavirus, walks past closed check-in counters at Hong Kong International Airport. Photo by DALE DE LA REY / AFP

HONG KONG – Hong Kong will loosen more social distancing measures, with higher secondary school students resuming classes this week as the coronavirus pandemic stabilizes.

Karaoke lounges, bathhouses, nightclubs and party rooms, which have been forced to close since early April, can reopen on Friday (May 29).

Transit services at the Hong Kong International Airport, suspended since April, will also gradually resume starting on June 1, announced Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday (May 26), ahead of her weekly meeting.

“The epidemic has eased,” she said. “We are resuming daily activities in society and economy step by step.”
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong stood at 1,065 as of Tuesday (May 26). So far, 1,033 have been discharged and 4 cases were fatal.

From Wednesday (May 27), classes for Secondary 3 to Secondary 5 students will resume. The younger pupils of grades Primary 4 to Secondary 2 will go back to school on June 8, and Kindergarten 3 to Primary 3 on June 15.

Students and staff who have a fever are not allowed, everyone has to wear masks in school premises as far as possible and students are to be spaced 1m apart, whether it is queueing for toilets or sitting in class.

At the start of the month, Education Bureau chief Kevin Yeung had expressed confidence that classes could resume in phases from May 27.

Hong Kong schools had remained shut since the Lunar New Year holidays in January.

“International schools have a different school setting, as well as learning and teaching arrangements, and are hence allowed to tailor their class resumption timetable as long as the necessary preventive measures are met,” said Mr Yeung in an open letter to the public on Sunday (May 24).

Meanwhile, a number of leisure venues such as gyms, bars, cinemas and gaming centers had been allowed to reopen from May 8, although restrictions such as compulsory mask-wearing and keeping patrons to a minimum distance still apply.

The ban on public gatherings of more than eight people remains until June 4, the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, when vigils are held annually.