RATs for bars, banquet limits scrapped from Thursday
Rapid Covid tests for entry to Hong Kong's bars, nightclubs and banquets will be a thing of the past from Thursday. Caps on customer numbers introduced due to the pandemic will also be removed at these premises, along with others including cinemas and performance venues, the government announced on Tuesday. Banquet organisers can ignore the current 240-person limit and invite as many people as their venue can hold.  But Hong Kong's other requirements, such as the vaccine pass and mask-wearing rules remain in place – as does a 12-person outdoor gathering limit. "Mask-wearing is a cost effective measure against Covid and other respiratory diseases, so this is actually something that we will not relax [for now]," said Undersecretary for Health Libby Lee. "We will not relax the vaccine pass, we strongly believe that vaccine is a good protection scheme for all citizens in Hong Kong." Lee explained that while the number of new Covid infections recorded has been on the rise recently, the daily tallies have stabilised and they are not going up at a dangerous rate. "The whole government is looking deeply where we can actually further relax all the measures, so that we can go back to a normal life," she said. Lee also told reporters that officials will use the Christmas holiday period to review whether changes can be made to the daily rapid test requirement for schoolchildren. The Centre For Health Protection, meanwhile, said Hong Kong has had a relatively high daily number of new Covid cases in the past fortnight – around 14,000 to 15,000 infections per day. The Hospital Authority said it will adjust manpower to cope with an expected higher demand for beds.  It urged people to make use of outpatient clinic services or private doctors and to avoid casualty departments unless they need emergency care. Health authorities reported 14,982 Covid cases for the day, 870 of them imported. The tally is down slightly from the day before. There were 33 additional Covid-related deaths. Separately, the government announced that there'll be no fireworks again at Lunar New Year. It said although some large-scale events have been held recently, it didn't have enough time to arrange the fireworks.