Hong Kong to relax social distancing measures for vaccinated groups

Hong Kong officials are planning on relaxing social distancing requirements for those who have received their COVID-19 vaccinations, in a move to spur businesses amid the pandemic. 

“We are making use of vaccination as the basis for adjusting social distancing measures, as well as border control measures,” said Chief Executive Carrie Lam at a briefing on Monday. 

“We are not adopting a herd immunity concept for adjusting the relaxation measures. We are just targeting individuals or a group of individuals,” she added. 

In the F&B sector, up to 12 people can be allowed at a table if the staff and customers are fully vaccinated. This means they would have to receive two doses of the vaccine and wait 14 days for antibodies to develop. 

Dine-in services will also be extended to 2am, while banquet sizes have been increased to accommodate 100 people. 

READ: Hong Kong’s tourism workers will be offered 2,000 vaccination-related jobs

Meanwhile, for eateries where staff have received only their first jab, each table can sit up to six patrons, up from the current four people, and dine-in services have to end at midnight. The operating capacity will remain at 50%, while banquets will have a cap of 20 people. 

The government plans also to provide these businesses an additional tranche of subsidies under the Anti-Epidemic Fund, said Lam, with more details to be announced at a later date.