People gather to drink in a bar in Hong Kong on May 9, 2020. (ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department initiated prosecution procedures against seven catering businesses that were found to have violated anti-epidemic measures on Thursday.

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In a joint operation with Hong Kong police, the department inspected more than 30 catering business premises in Tuen Mun and Central and Western districts on Thursday, a spokesman for the department said in a press release. The action came as the city logged 18 coronavirus cases on the same day, the highest in nearly three weeks, deepening worries over a resurgence of local infections after a four-day holiday.

During the inspection at a catering business in Tuen Mun, officers found 19 patrons being seated at two tables in a VIP room and issued fixed penalty tickets to the 19 customers. Restaurants are allowed to seat no more than four people per table under existing social distancing rules. The business was also prosecuted.

The government has allowed bars to remain open but has asked operators to enhance infection control measures such as ventilation, said a representative for Hong Kong’s bar operators

The department also prosecuted six other restaurants in a shopping complex in Admiralty for violating anti-COVID regulations. They had violated rules about the distance between tables, mask requirements and the number of customers at one table, according to the release.

According to current regulations, anyone who violates the four-person gathering restriction is subject to a fixed penalty of HK$2,000 (US$258), while catering business operator faces a maximum fine of HK$50,000 and imprisonment for six months.

The spokesman said the department will continue to step up inspections at food premises across the territory and conduct joint operations with police. The spokesman appealed to food business operators and customers to strictly comply with the latest anti-epidemic regulations to minimize the transmission of COVID-19.

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The government has allowed bars to remain open but has asked operators to enhance infection control measures such as ventilation, said a representative for Hong Kong’s bar operators after a meeting with officials from the Food and Health Bureau on Thursday.

Speaking on a public radio program, Leung Lap-yan admitted that some operators have not been strictly complying with anti-epidemic rules.

Concerns over virus transmission in bars grew after China Secret, an unlicensed bar in Tsim Sha Tsui, was linked to an infection cluster of at least 10 patients.