Tonga's lockdown restrictions are easing.
Restaurants and food outlets are opening for the first time in two weeks, but with only takeaway options allowed.
According to new lockdown rules introduced by Tonga's Government, businesses can operate between 5am to 8pm until Monday.
Since 20 March most Tongan businesses, including all shops and gas stations, have only been allowed to open on Saturdays.
However, bars and liquor stores will still be prohibited from opening.
Owner of the Billfish Restaurant and Bar in Nuku'alofa Robert Sullivan said that bars have been totally ignored.
"Bars have not even been mentioned. We've closed since February 2nd to 3rd. So bars have not been open since then in Tonga, and any bars and all their employees will be struggling quite alot right now because we still have bills, we still have rents, we still have the products that we've already purchased. The majority of bars are still trying to pay their staff we've what they have, and this can't continue," Sullivan said.
Tonga has been in lockdown since 2 February and a border closure has been in effect since the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020.
The Minister of Health, Saia Piukala, announced this week that six Covid-19 deaths had been recorded in the Kingdom, and that over 6000 Tongans had tested positive for Covid-19.
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