A customer shops at a store in Hong Kong on Friday amid the COVID-19 outbreak, where the shelves are lined with disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizers. The shortage of such products has continued for nearly a month before they were restocked. Photo: cnsphoto

 
Hong Kong will close beauty salons and massage parlors for 14 days since Friday, an official statement said Wednesday, adding to a string of social distancing measures to fight the COVID-19 epidemic.

The new move aims to curb local transmission of the virus as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases had risen to 935 in Hong Kong by Tuesday noon after a drastic increase during the past weeks, with many patients having no travel history, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said.

The government said it will also extend previous measures to April 23, such as limiting group gatherings and catering services and shutting multiple types of entertainment venues from bars and karaoke lounges.

Experts have warned of rising risks of imported cases and even spread in the local community as a large number of Hong Kong residents returned from COVID-19-hit European countries and the United States.

The government had already stepped up anti-epidemic efforts, including mandatory quarantines for inbound visitors and social distancing measures. HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam appealed to the public on Tuesday to support such policies and vowed stringent enforcement.

A spokesperson for the Food and Health Bureau said in Wednesday's statement that people contravening the social distancing rules are subject to a maximum fine of 50,000 Hong Kong dollars (nearly 6,500 U.S. dollars) and imprisonment for six months.