People wearing face masks walk on a footbridge in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, in the morning of May 4, 2020. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
HONG KONG - After a pandemic-induced shutdown of more than a month, most major public services in Hong Kong were restored on Monday morning.
The majority of the city’s 170,000 civil servants will return to work in their offices on Monday. As of Sunday, the city had not seen a new case of COVID-19 transmitted locally for 14 days in a row.
As of Sunday, the city had not seen a new case of COVID-19 transmitted locally for 14 days in a row
On March 23, the government suspended most non-emergency public services and temporarily closed public places of leisure, and told civil servants to work from home to contain the transmission of virus.
About 4,800 civil servants had since worked from home and another approximately 30,000 had worked every other day to minimize the risk of coronavirus infection.
Outdoor sports grounds, public libraries and museums reopened in a phased manner on Monday. The current ban on gatherings of more than four people in public places at a time and the order to keep entertainment venues closed will remain in force through Thursday.
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Visitors to any indoor public facility that reopened on Monday must wear masks, and will have their temperature checked.
Security guards monitor on screen people entering Revenue Tower in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, on May 4, 2020. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
Government departments are advised, however, to maintain flexible working hours and lunch breaks, and to schedule video calls instead of face-to-face meetings.
Public schools and performance venues remain closed until further notice. People who work for such institutions will continue to work from home.
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Because of the prevailing concern about the public health situation and the need for social distancing, court proceedings will be initially held with a reduced capacity.
A mandatory 14-day home quarantine arrangement for all arrivals from the Chinese mainland, Macao and Taiwan stays in force until June 7.
On a busy footbridge in Wan Chai, civil servants who have been working from home over the past weeks, were seen trooping back to their offices in the Revenue Tower and Immigration Tower on Monday morning.
Around 9 am, many civil servants lined up to take the elevators in Revenue Tower which houses the Inland Revenue Department.
A body temperature monitoring system is set up at the entrance of both government buildings. Anyone who has a body temperature above 37 degree C would be tested manually with a thermometer to make sure.
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Lisa Tsang, 28, works at an employment agency. She went to the Inland Revenue Department to pay tax for her company.
She said she was glad to see the resumption of public services as her company was waiting for the tax receipt as proof for application for wage subsidy from the government.
A 31-year-old man who only gave his surname as Zheng needs to extend his visa urgently. He went to the Immigrant Tower on Monday morning to apply to renew his visa for visiting relatives in Hong Kong.
