Hong Kong rolls out 'stringent' restrictions as new infections hit record

Hong Kong announced new COVID-19 policies and restrictions on Tuesday after reporting a record-setting 625 new daily cases the same day.

Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam announced that public gatherings would be further limited from four people to two on Thursday. Lam also ordered churches and hair salons to close on Thursday and prohibited private gatherings of more than two families, according to Reuters.

The city has also seen 2,600 new cases in the past two weeks, compared to just two in December.

"The time has come for Hong Kong to take some tough measures," Lam said, according Reuters.

"We are adopting stringent measures to protect Hong Kong," she added.

As the city attempts to control the spread of the virus, the severity of its prevention measures rivals that of those seen at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

Currently, flights are down by 90 percent, and restaurants are required to close by 6 p.m. Gyms, schools and playgrounds are also shut down, and most people in the city are working from home, the news service added.

At the same time, the city has also faced supply chain issues regarding vegetables after several truck drivers who bring in vegetables from mainland China tested positive for the virus. As a result, its vegetable supply on Tuesday was around one-third of what it was on Monday, Reuters reported.

"No more veggies inside. ... It's like the battlefield," one grocery store staffer at a downtown market shouted to people trying to charge into the store, according to the outlet.