HK Jockey Club reduces race attendance

Amid a rise in new Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, the Hong Kong Jockey Club has been instructed by authorities to reduce the number of attendance to its races.

Hong Kong.- The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) has confirmed through a statement that it will reduce the number of attendees at the race being held today, January 5, 2022.

According to the press release, admission for the race meeting at the Happy Valley Racecourse “is limited to Stewards, Voting Members, Owners, Members and their guests who have made advance bookings.”

It was also revealed the “cruises to nowhere” were cancelled too due to new restrictions imposed to stop the spread of Omicron.

On January 4, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Hong Kong Chief Executive, said the long-awaited travel bubble with mainland China will have to wait due to the outbreak of Omicron cases.

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor pointed out that as of Monday, Hong Kong had recorded 102 cases related to the Omicron-variant. 

Among them, 97 cases were classified as “imported” and the other five cases were classified as “epidemiologically related” to imported cases.

Authorities in China had previously announced the country was going to open its borders for travellers from Hong Kong from December 19 while Elsie Ao Ieong U, Macau’s secretary for social affairs and culture, had said the travel bubble was going to apply only for those who had been fully vaccinated.

The reopening of the border between Hong Kong and Macau was highly expected as Hong Kong has historically accounted for 15 per cent to 20 per cent of Macau’s total gaming revenue.

Mainland China continues to be the only country to have a largely quarantine-free travel bubble with Macau.