Not yet time to loosen dining-in clamps, Ho Pak-leung says

Conditions are not suitable for relaxing dining-in restrictions, an adviser to the government on the coronavirus epidemic said.

Dr Ho Pak-leung, the head of the University of Hong Kong's Centre For Infection, said the flow of people and the time spent in restaurants differs at lunchtime and dinner.

From the time the dine-in ban was imposed, the number of virus infected patients related to the catering industry has dropped and even stopped, proving the effectiveness of the measure.

Ho told a radio program that easing the ban depends on effective implementation of the restrictions.

In the latest virus flare-up that began in July, the number of patients related to catering and other high risk groups exceeded 40, but many had not tested themselves for the virus even after they had fallen ill. Some had continued to go to work and infected others.

He said that if authorities do not improve contact tracing, and shorten the time between onset of symptoms and admissions to the hospital, relaxing the dine-in restrictions could result in another outbreak.

Ho also noted that many cha chaan tengs have not switched to electronic transactions, still using cash instead.

The government should also provide catering sector staff with free virus tests, he said.