Ahead of the anticipated adjustments to social distancing coming Saturday, small business owners and merchants have urged the government to ease regulations.

An association of small businesses and self-employed held a press conference on Thursday, calling for businesses to be allowed to open until midnight instead of the current 9 p.m. and for more people to be allowed inside facilities.

They claimed that pubs and gyms tend to see the most business from 9 p.m. to midnight and that the current ban is no different from a complete shutdown.

They also called on quarantine authorities to engage in thorough discussions with business representatives and not make unilateral decisions from their desks.