Hong Kong has announced that the leisure venues and cultural facilities that reopened earlier this month have closed once again as cases of coronavirus spike.
Hong Kong’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCDS) is closing outdoor leisure facilities, including tennis courts, bowling greens, running tracks, grass and artificial turf pitches, swimming pools, beaches, water sports centres, and holiday camps.
Also closing are the Ngau Chi Wan Park Archery Range, Shek O Obstacle Golf Course, and the archery range, golf driving range and practice greens at Tuen Mun Recreation and Sports Centre.
In addition, all indoor sports facilities will be closed. However, parks, playgrounds, skateboard grounds, skateparks, skating rinks and cycling grounds will remain open.
Indoor and outdoor sports facilities close in HK
Hong Kong has suspended applications for the use of wedding venues, amphitheatres and non-fee charging leisure venues until further notice.
All libraries are temporarily closed, although public libraries will continue to provide online services, including e-books and e-databases.
All museums, performance venues and music centres will be closed, and major performance venues will not reopen before the end of April.
As previously confirmed, Hong Kong decided to close its government-run museums again after a wave of new coronavirus cases hit, largely due to returning travellers.
Hong Kong closes museums over COVID-19
Hong Kong shut down government-run museums in late January, before they gradually began reopening earlier in March.
However, this came before a second wave of the pandemic, with identified cases of COVID-19 doubling in Hong Kong between March 16 and March 23.
As a result, social distancing measures are back, with the government quickly closing the Hong Kong Museum of Art, City Gallery, M+ Pavilion, and Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre.
Still, more than 180 museums in China reopened last week, including the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai History Museum, and China Art Museum.
Japan is also starting to open theme parks and attractions, as well as businesses and schools, after COVID-19 resulted in closures through February and March 2020.
