HONG KONG – The city’s leader on Tuesday (April 28) announced that most of the civil servants will return to their offices to work from next week and government services are to resume normal operating hours, as the coronavirus pandemic appear to be under control.

There will be exceptions though, as some places such as schools remain closed.

Speaking ahead of her weekly executive council meeting, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said this would be done in two phases.

Bearing in mind existing social distancing rules, public facilities including outdoor sports venues, libraries and museums will start to open again, she said.

Mrs Lam said the government is reviewing the situation and will decide if the current social distancing measures should be eased.

“The situation fluctuates and recently, the World Health Organisation said the same. We need to be prepared and not ease the rules all at once but only gradually. But once we relax the rules, if there’s a need, we have to tighten them again and we can only relax when there is a vaccine and the majority of the population has immunity.”

The city has confirmed 1,037 cases and four deaths since the outbreak began in January.

The decision to allow government staff back into offices comes as Hong Kong recorded no new case for a second consecutive day on Monday, with the rise in infections hovering at single digits.

The number of new cases has been low since the start of April, said Mrs Lam, who added that no new case was reported on four days so far.

Pressure has been mounting for the government to relax social distancing measures in light of the low number of new Covid-19 cases.

On Monday, the chairman of the Medical Association’s advisory committee on communicable diseases Leung Chi Chiu suggested that Hong Kong can start to slowly ease social distancing rules, while respiratory disease expert Professor David Hui of the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Saturday said the measures can be relaxed if there are no unusual community outbreaks before May 7.

Executive councillor and Business and Professionals Alliance lawmaker Jeffrey Lam on Monday also chimed in, saying he would push for more exemptions if the government decides to extend quarantine rules for people arriving from the mainland. 

People entering Hong Kong from the mainland have to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Last week, the government said the slew of social distancing measures now in place, including a ban on most gatherings of more than four people and the closing of gyms and cinemas, would be extended until May 7.
 

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