HONG KONG—Hong Kong’s Fung Shing Restaurant was bustling this week as customers came for one last taste of the traditional Cantonese dim sum that has made it famous.
With COVID-19 restrictions cutting too deeply into its bottom line, the restaurant will shut its doors for good on Sunday, another economic victim of the pandemic.
Many fear the worst is yet to come with Hong Kong experiencing its most severe outbreak, and fret the authorities’ determination to stick to the Chinese regime’s “zero-tolerance” strategy may prevent it from recovering as a financial and travel hub.
“The biggest risk of Hong Kong in 2022 is that it may be entering the path of basically, if not recession, at least a downward drag in economic growth again while the world begins to normalize,”said Natixis senior economist Gary Ng.
Hong Kong has seen banks close branches and movie theaters have shut down. The streets of popular shopping and dining districts are lined with shops displaying “for rent” signs. Its international airport is nearly devoid of travelers.
A ban on onsite dining after 6 p.m., imposed last month, is depriving restaurants of critical dinner and banquet revenues.
Daily new coronavirus cases exceeded 2,000 for the first time on Monday. On Friday, over 3,600 new local infections were reported.
Hospitals are becoming overwhelmed so the city is looking into converting hotels and even unoccupied public housing into quarantine areas. But it shows no sign of backing away from matching the Chinese regime’s stringent policies.
As part of its zero-tolerance strategy, China has locked down entire cities, literally keeping people sequestered in their homes during extensive testing and contact tracing to quell outbreaks.
But Hong Kong lacks the resources for such a complete lockdown, which would halt virtually all economic activity in the city of about 7.5 million.
And people living in Hong Kong, which was handed over to Communist-ruled China in 1997, are used to greater freedoms than residents of the mainland. Lockdowns of single buildings or city blocks have raised vehement criticism.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam shows no sign of retreating from the “zero-COVID” stance, saying Thursday that fighting the pandemic is her “paramount task” and the city would “not be distracted by other things.”
On Friday, Lam announced she was postponing the city’s election for chief executive for six weeks to May 8 due to “public health risks” it would pose at this stage in the pandemic. It’s not yet clear if Lam will run for reelection.
To relieve some pressure on hospitals, officials now say some patients with mild symptoms will be able to leave hospitals after just seven days—half the current requirement—if they test negative and are not living with any high-risk individuals.
At the current rate of spread of infections, new daily cases could rise to 28,000 by March, so it’s unclear that will be enough.
Customers at the Fung Shing Restaurant said they feel powerless.
“I feel so helpless for this restaurant under the pandemic,” said customer Mo Wan, a 78-year-old who has been a regular for the past decade. “I have established a deep friendship with the staff members.”
Up to 3,000 of Hong Kong’s 17,000 restaurants could end up closing if current restrictions continue through March, said Michael Leung, chairman of the Association for Hong Kong Catering Services Management, which represents 800 restaurant owners.
Leung has temporarily shuttered his own restaurant, the Lucky Dragon Palace.
It’s a sprawling establishment that would normally seat 1,000 before the pandemic. Leung hopes to hold on, paying the rent and saving on labor and utilities until he can reopen.
“The pandemic is very serious, there’s barely anyone on the street,” he said. “With fewer people going out, it means no business for restaurants. This fifth wave really impacts us terribly. It’s really an ice age for the catering business.”
