Hong Kong’s Lam Denies Political Aim in Extending Crowd Ban

(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong will extend social-distancing measures, despite objections from pro-democracy groups that a ban on large gatherings was being used to suppress protests.

Food and Health Secretary Sophia Chan confirmed in a briefing Tuesday afternoon that the city would extend restrictions, including a ban on gatherings of more than eight people, for another two weeks until June 4.

Earlier, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said Hong Kong needed to “remain vigilant” after new coronavirus infections broke a 23-day streak without local cases. She denied a desire to prevent gatherings, such as an annual June 4 vigil commemorating the 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square activists, weighed on the decision.

“There’s no political consideration at all on certain anniversaries or political gatherings and so on,” Lam told reporters before a regular meeting of her Executive Council advisory panel. “Our only consideration is public safety and public health concerns.

Measures extended past Thursday include the ban on more than eight people -- although religious gatherings are exempted -- while karaoke lounges and nightclubs would continue to remain shuttered. “There’s no need to relax any measures, but there’s no need to tighten any other measures,” Lam said, citing medical experts advising the government.

The extension comes after Hong Kong, which avoided the full lockdowns of other big cities, relaxed some social-distancing measures, including earlier easing a ban on more than four people. They city also allowed civil servants to return to their offices after working from home.

Even though the city has seen few local cases, Hong Kong has continued to keep social-distancing measures in place at a time when the former British colony is seeing a fresh burst of anti-government demonstrations. Some protesters have expressed fears that Lam’s administration could continue imposing restrictions to suppress pro-democracy rallies and could prevent the annual June 4 vigil in Victoria Park, which usually attracts tens of thousands of people.

Virus Measures

Lam said authorities haven’t been able to trace the source of some recent infections and that was likely a sign there was some silent, or asymptomatic, transmission of the virus. However, she said it was probably impractical to wait a full 28 days without local transmission before deciding whether to relax measures.

The city will increase its testing capacity to conducting 7,000 tests per day -- up from from around 4,500 now, Lam said. The government was still planning to follow through on its plans of a phased reopening of schools, she said.

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