Carrie Lam: Elementary schools and kindergartens will resume face-to-face teaching as soon as April 19

Carrie Lam: Elementary schools and kindergartens will resume face-to-face teaching as soon as April 19, and gradually release social distancing measures in stages

　　On the morning of the 21st, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, said at a press conference on fighting the epidemic that Hong Kong primary schools and kindergartens will resume face-to-face classes on April 19 at the earliest.

　　Carrie Lam also said that if the epidemic does not rebound, most social distancing measures will be lifted in three phases and three months from April 21.

　　In the first phase, restaurants will resume operation at night, and the maximum number of people gathering in groups will be relaxed to 4 people.

In the second stage, the number of people gathering in groups has been relaxed to 8, and places such as swimming pools will also be open. Masks are not required when exercising outdoors. The restaurant’s evening business hours will be extended from 22:00 to 24:00, and each table will be increased from 4 to 8 people.

In the third stage, restrictions on most places will be relaxed as much as possible, and only basic epidemic prevention requirements will be implemented, including wearing masks, limiting the number of people gathered, using "safe travel" and showing a vaccine pass before entering the venue.

　　In addition, Carrie Lam also said that by the end of April, she hopes to achieve the goal of increasing the vaccination rate.

Including citizens aged 12 and above, the vaccination rate of the second shot has increased to 90%, the vaccination rate of children aged 3 to 11 has increased to 90%, and the first shot vaccination rate of the elderly in residential homes has also increased by 90%.

(Headquarters reporter Jin Dong Zhou Weiqi)