Heavier COVID-19 fines to be set

November 30, 2020

Chief Executive Carrie Lam:
If everybody is very concerned about the health of themselves, of Hong Kong people, if everybody wants to eradicate this wave as soon as possible, there is no need for any fines (as) people will be well-behaved or self-disciplined. But unfortunately, and maybe to a certain extent, understandably, because of the fatigue associated with this prolonged period of pandemic – it’s now almost one year - you have seen and I have seen reporters taking a lot of photos, putting on their front pages about Hong Kong people ignoring the various regulations. They went out in groups, they did not wear their masks, they continued to enjoy themselves in parties. Even if party rooms were closed, they went to other private places to have parties, they danced in close contact. That is why we (thought) that perhaps the $2,000 fine at the moment does not serve the purpose of deterring people from these sorts of activities. So, we need to raise the fine. You can see in other places, they also resort to fines. 

I still have confidence that a great majority of Hong Kong people are very sensible, very pragmatic. They want to help control this pandemic. But for some, you still need some instruments to deter them from (having) this sort of behaviour.

Now, a hotline is a hotline. The Government has all sorts of hotlines for members of the public to shoulder their civic responsibility, to tell government departments that they suspect there are certain irregularities going on here and there. They report to us, our enforcement colleagues will go there to investigate and to see whether there is indeed an irregularity that requires some actions to be taken. I hope people would not overreact. This is not monitoring people and so on. This is jointly shouldering part of the responsibility given the very serious pandemic situation that we are now facing.

(To watch the full press conference with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Government will increase the current fixed penalty of $2,000 for violating social distancing rules.

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the penalty increase aims to more effectively deter people from breaking regulations that require them to wear masks in public places, observe the group gathering order and undergo a virus test when required to do so.

"If everybody is very concerned about the health of themselves, of Hong Kong people, if everybody wants to eradicate this wave as soon as possible, there is no need for any fines as people will be well-behaved or self-disciplined.

"But unfortunately, and maybe to a certain extent, understandably, because of the fatigue associated with this prolonged period of pandemic - it's now almost one year - you have seen and I have seen reporters taking a lot of photos, putting on their front pages about Hong Kong people ignoring the various regulations.

"They went out in groups, they did not wear their masks, they continued to enjoy themselves in parties. Even if party rooms were closed, they went to other private places to have parties, they danced in close contact.

"That is why we thought that perhaps the $2,000 fine at the moment does not serve the purpose of deterring people from these sorts of activities. So, we need to raise the fine. You can see in other places, they also resort to fines.

"I still have confidence that a great majority of Hong Kong people are very sensible, very pragmatic. They want to help control this pandemic. But for some, you still need some instruments to deter them from having this sort of behaviour."

Additionally, the Government will set up a hotline for people to report violations of social distancing rules.

Mrs Lam stressed that such a move will help in the fight against COVID-19.

"The Government has all sorts of hotlines for members of the public to shoulder their civic responsibility, to tell government departments that they suspect there are certain irregularities going on here and there. They report to us, our enforcement colleagues will go there to investigate and to see whether there is indeed an irregularity that requires some actions to be taken.

"I hope people would not overreact. This is not monitoring people and so on. This is jointly shouldering part of the responsibility given the very serious pandemic situation that we are now facing."