Hong Kong limits private gatherings to fight COVID-19

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s leader has announced the city’s toughest social-distancing restrictions yet, including unprecedented limits on private gatherings, as new daily cases surge above 600. Chief Executive Carrie Lam says gatherings in private premises of more than two families will be banned. Public gatherings will be restricted to two people, and hair salons and places of worship will be closed until Feb. 24, when the city launches a “vaccine pass” that will require people to show proof of vaccination to enter shopping malls, markets and eateries. The tightened measures come as the city grapples with a new wave of the coronavirus driven by the omicron variant. Hong Kong has aligned itself with China’s “zero-COVID” policy, which aims to totally stamp out outbreaks.